Drake University has been recognized as an essential partner in the Republic of Panama’s national artificial intelligence strategy, a development that university leaders say deepens a growing relationship and advances the school’s mission of meeting learners where they are.
The Des Moines-based private university received the acknowledgment from Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino for its role in developing talent to support the country’s technology and AI economy. The recognition builds on Drake’s establishment of the only data analytics degree program in Central America, along with a new minor in artificial intelligence, both set to launch next fall at Ciudad del Saber, an education and entrepreneurship hub in Panama City.
Drake University President Marty Martin called the national acknowledgment a 'special moment'.
“We’re far removed from Panama, and yet we have worked so closely with them, and frankly, listened to what they needed, and what they needed aligned with our competency and mission,” Martin said. “When we combine these partnerships that we have there with the strengths of Drake, our mission orientation, we’re able to find a pathway that’s really in service to that country and that region.”
The data analytics bachelor’s degree and artificial intelligence minor were announced in October 2025. They offer two pathways for Panamanian students. One is a three-year-plus-one-summer accelerated program that allows students to complete both the degree and minor entirely in Panama. The other is a 2+2 model in which students complete their final two years on Drake’s campus in Iowa.
Martin said Drake has worked closely with SENACYT, Panama’s National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation, in designing the programs. The university is also a partner in the broader national strategy focused on artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and microelectronics.
Seventeen applications have already been submitted. Drake hopes to enroll a first cohort of about 50 students next fall, likely split evenly between the two pathways. Next week, Martin and other university officials will travel to Panama for a college recruiting fair sponsored by Drake, meet with the country’s minister of innovation, and host an alumni reception.
University leaders are identifying Drake faculty who will teach in the programs and hiring faculty based in Panama. Dean of Students Jerry Parker has already relocated to the area with his family for the first year of the initiative. Officials are also examining other Drake degree programs that could eventually be offered in Panama.
Panama is home to a significant group of Drake alumni who hold prominent positions in the country. Martin first visited in 2017 to meet those alumni, who encouraged the university to establish a stronger presence. The visit also included time at Ciudad del Saber, which Martin described as a natural fit when combined with the existing alumni network.
“When you combine the alumni base we have with the wonderful entity that is Ciudad del Saber, it just became a natural place for us to think big,” he said.
Momentum accelerated after the Drake football team traveled to Panama for an 11-day trip in 2024. Martin and other leaders made three additional visits between May 2024 and May 2025 to refine the partnership ideas that ultimately led to the current level of collaboration.
Drake is pursuing international programs, including academic partnerships in Singapore and China as well as Panama, for two primary reasons, Martin said. The first is enrollment growth. As a university long focused on meeting learners where they are academically, socially, and geographically through online programs Drake is now establishing physical locations abroad to reach students in their home countries.
The second reason centers on what Martin calls 'civic diplomacy through education'.
“We are much better when we know each other, when we understand each other, because out of that comes trust, and trust is the essential ingredient in this world getting along and progressing,” he said. “And so we’re making our own small contribution to that in China, we’ll make it in Singapore, we’ll make it in Panama and other places where we’ll have collaborations.”
The Panama initiative represents one of the most tangible examples of that approach. By combining Drake’s academic strengths in data analytics and artificial intelligence with local partnerships and an established alumni network, the university aims to help build human capital for Panama’s technology sector while creating new pathways for students and expanding its own global footprint.
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Officials emphasize that the programs were shaped by listening to Panamanian needs rather than simply exporting an existing model. That collaborative process, Martin said, is what made the national acknowledgment especially meaningful.
As Drake continues recruiting for the inaugural cohort and finalizing faculty arrangements, the partnership stands as a concrete example of how a Midwestern private university is extending its educational mission far beyond Iowa while contributing to another country’s strategic priorities in artificial intelligence and technological development.
