Editor’s Note: The following interview was done by Marjorie Stoneman on behalf of Whitewater Unites Lives.
Dr. K. Praveen Parboteeah is a well-respected and world-renowned professor, researcher, and textbook author who lives in Whitewater, Wisconsin. His journey to Whitewater began in the small country of Mauritius, an island near Africa. He grew up in a family of teachers and his maternal grandfather was one of the first non-Christian principals during British rule in Mauritius.
Praveen earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mauritius. A professor from California arranged for one student to attend Chico University in California to earn an MBA and Praveen was chosen to follow the research track. He then earned a PhD in Business Administration at Washington State. Washington State is also where he became a United States citizen.
“I really liked what my advisor was doing and the quality of life in the United States. I wanted to have the best option to stay here and do research and flourish as a scholar,” he said. At that time, Mauritius had limited opportunities for a PhD education.
Praveen said when he first went to California, he was really homesick, being 10,000 miles and 22 hours away from his family. His mom came the first summer to help him adapt. He said now he enjoys talking with his father regularly on the phone and Facetiming his family on the weekend. Technology has made the distance bearable.
Praveen speaks French, Creole, and English fluently. One of Praveen’s challenges was changing from the British style of writing to the American style of writing. He said the British style is much wordier, and so he learned to write in a clean, direct style for academic papers.
He has published 60 articles and five books (three books with more editions). He won the UW-W Award for Outstanding Researcher twice, and he received an award from the Prime Minister of Mauritius. He also surpassed 10,000 cites on Google Scholar.
Praveen’s first position after earning his PhD was to teach Business at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He had applied to many universities, but he really liked the chair of his department, Chris Clements. He and his wife, Kyong Pyun, moved here 25 years ago. He said it was difficult to adapt at the beginning, but once he and Kyong met people through work and the community, it became much easier socially. Praveen has had many offers to teach at other universities, but he loves it in Whitewater and doesn’t plan to leave.
In 2014, Praveen spearheaded the DBA (Doctorate of Business Administration) program at Whitewater, which has been an important financial and status boost for the university. Working business people can earn their DBA by attending sessions on the weekend. The program is geared toward professionals. In addition, other state professors have been able to advance at their universities by earning a DBA at Whitewater.
“When I think about all of the experiences I have had, I know I am privileged to be at UW-W,” he said.
Praveen’s wife, Kyong (featured in another whitewaterbanner.com article) was born in South Korea, so Praveen made connections with South Korea University, where he teaches each summer. He has also made wonderful professional connections with other international scholars from Germany, China, and India.
“I have enjoyed all of the cultural experiences. In Mauritius, I was able to meet Muslims, Hindus and Christians. I’m interested in different cultures and have had good experiences whenever I’ve interacted with people from different countries,” he said.
Praveen and Kyong raised two children in Whitewater. One is currently attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the other recently graduated from there. Both Praveen and Kyong are dedicated to the Whitewater community. Praveen is a volunteer for Whitewater YES for Education, served on the Whitewater Grocery Co. Board, and was involved in creating the Lincoln Elementary Charter School.
