On January 28, 2026, the University of Prishtina Senate unanimously appointed Virginia Tech Professor Besnik Pula as an adjunct professor.

Besnik Pula is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the International Studies Program in the Department of Political Science at Virginia Tech.

He completed his undergraduate studies in political science at Hunter College, City University of New York. He holds a master’s degree in Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and earned his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Michigan.

Professor Pula has been a visiting professor at the University of Vienna, is the author of two books and numerous scholarly articles, and has received several awards for his research, which has been published in leading international journals.

He is the fourth scholar to become an adjunct professor at UP through the “Brain Return and Circulation” program. This initiative is based on the Regulation on Transfer, the ‘Brain Gain’ program, and special hiring provisions approved by the UP Senate on April 30, 2025.

To date, the university has also appointed Dublin City University Professor Gëzim Visoka, Ohio State University physician and professor Dukagjin Blakaj, and King’s College London pharmacist and professor Driton Vllasaliu to similar roles.

The collaboration and contributions of such distinguished professors will help the nation's leading university keep pace with the evolving demands of higher education.