Over a dinner table in Taipei, Taiwan, a group of Ohio State students and Taiwanese alumni who just met that night joined arms and sang the university’s alma mater ‘Carmen Ohio,’ showcasing the unbreakable Buckeye bonds and the lasting impact of a shared college experience.
With a living alumni network of over 600,000, Ohio State Buckeyes can be found all over the world. Fisher College of Business senior lecturer Andrew Piletz leverages this network to create a valuable study abroad experience for undergraduates while enhancing their resumes and fostering global business experience.
Piletz was inspired to take students to Asia after his own study abroad experience in college. Looking to give students a similar feeling of excitement and curiosity to his own, he created the Fisher Global Marketing: Taiwan program in 2022.
“There’s something very different about Asia; the aha moments are amplified when you go somewhere like Asia and you can’t even speak the language,” said Piletz. “When I came to Ohio State in 2018, figuring out how I could take students there was at the top of my list.”
After pitching the idea for the program to the Office of Global Business, Piletz connected with the Ohio State China Gateway in Shanghai, which fosters connections and facilitates opportunities for students, researchers, alumni and partners in East Asia. The Gateway in turn brought in the Taiwan Alumni Club, led by K.L. Wang ’86 MBA.
“It is our pleasure and honor that Andrew chooses Taiwan as his student overseas learning place,” said Wang. “I believe students are impressed by the diversity and vitality of Taiwanese business. Moreover, the warm hospitality from our alumni and Taiwanese people play an important role in keeping this program so vivid and praiseworthy.”
Wang helped organize visits to prominent Taiwanese companies with Ohio State alumni executives, including Fubon, a financial company whose chairman is a Buckeye; TDRI, an architecture firm whose president graduated from the Knowlton School of Architecture and TSMC, the world’s largest semiconductor producer whose head of research and development attended Ohio State. The group also visited Kenda Tire, whose U.S. headquarters is in central Ohio.
“One of Ohio State’s largest and strongest alumni networks is actually in Taiwan,” noted Piletz. “They don’t see that many people coming to Taiwan from Ohio State, so for us to go over there it keeps their ties to the university strong.”
During these company visits, students received facility tours and heard from executives about their business and marketing strategies.
“There’s no such thing as just ‘business’ anymore, everything is global business,” said Piletz. “Students learn how business is done around the world, and in Taiwan specifically, how much humanity there is in business.”
Outside of company tours, the group visited cultural sites such as the Raohe Night Market and Elephant Mountain as well as participated in a cooking class. The 13-day study abroad program culminated with the alumni dinner in Taipei.
“The hospitality I experienced while abroad is something I will never forget,” reflected Matt Levine, a Fisher graduate who participated in the 2025 program. “I truly experienced the power of the Buckeye community.”
Piletz will lead the Fisher Global Marketing: Taiwan program again in May 2026, looking to continue his mission of bringing students abroad while highlighting Ohio State’s global community.