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Fanta Aw, PhD, American University
Fanta Aw, PhD, is assistant vice president of campus life and director of international student and scholar services at American University, where she heads intercultural services and programs and the international student and scholar services office. Aw has close to 20 years of experience in the field of international education exchange and higher education. She has taught and lectured on a range of international and intercultural topics as an adjunct faculty at American University and at George Washington University. Aw is a frequent presenter and trainer for NAFSA, the U.S. Department of State, Institute for International Education, and other international educational organizations. She received her MA in public administration with a focus on organizational development and her PhD in sociology from American University. Her areas of specialization include transnational migration, international training and education, and intercultural communication. Aw joined the NAFSA Board of Directors in 2009. |
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Cynthia Banks, GlobaLinks Learning Abroad
Cynthia Banks serves as executive director of GlobaLinks Learning Abroad, an international education abroad program. Now celebrating its 21st year, the organization has helped more than 25,000 students study abroad. She has a BS in business from Colorado State University and an MS in organizational development from the University of Colorado-Denver. She has served as the chair of NAFSA's Education Abroad Knowledge Community, treasurer of NAFSA Region II, and was the co-chair of the Local Arrangements Team for NAFSA's 1999 annual conference. She is an elected member of the prestigious International Women's Forum, a director of the board of the Up With People nonprofit organization, and was a finalist for the Denver Business Journal's "Outstanding Women in Business" Awards. She is a member of the Forum on Education Abroad, attends other major conferences such as the Australian International Education Conference, European Association for International Education, and Asia Pacific Association for International Education, and has been an invited speaker at many of these events. |
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Jolene Koester, PhD, California State University, Northridge
Jolene Koester, PhD, recently stepped down as the fourth president of California State University-Northridge, where she served since 2000. Prior to her appointment at CSU-Northridge, Koester was provost and vice president for academic affairs at California State University-Sacramento, a post she had held since 1993. Before her service as provost, she held other executive positions in the academic affairs division at Sacramento State, and was a faculty member there, as a professor of communication studies, since 1980. She earned her BA from the University of Minnesota, an MA in communication arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a PhD in speech communication from Minnesota in 1980. Known nationally for her leadership in the area of higher education, Koester is a past chair of the Board of Directors for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. |
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Mora McLean, JD, Africa-America Institute
Mora McLean is president and chief executive officer of the Africa-America Institute (AAI), the oldest U.S.-based nonprofit organization concerned with strengthening human capacity in Africa through advanced academic education and professional training. She joined AAI from the Ford Foundation, where she worked on domestic U.S. and international programs, occupying several posts including deputy director for Africa and Middle East programs, and before that, West Africa representative based in Lagos, Nigeria. A native of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, McLean earned her bachelor's degree at Wesleyan University and a JD from Columbia Law School. She is a member of the Wesleyan Board of Trustees and also serves on the boards of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the U.S. International University (USIU) in Nairobi, Kenya. McLean is a member of the African Studies Association and the Council on Foreign Relations and served on the Advisory Commission for the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program. |
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Jody K. Olsen, PhD, University of Maryland School of Social Work
Jody K. Olsen, PhD is a visiting professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. From January-August 2009, she served as acting director of the Peace Corps, having been appointed as deputy director by President Bush in 2002. Olsen started in the Peace Corps as a volunteer in Tunisia in 1966 and moved up the ranks to country director, then to regional director, and, in 1989, to chief of staff, a position she held for three years. From 1992-1997, Olsen served as executive director of the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES), and served as senior vice president at the Academy for Educational Development until returning to the Peace Corps. Olsen received her bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Utah; she earned a master's degree in social work from the University of Maryland and a PhD from Maryland's College of Education. |
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Kavita Pandit, PhD, University of Georgia
Kavita Pandit, PhD serves as associate provost for international education at the University of Georgia. From 2007-2009, she was senior vice provost for academic affairs at the State University of New York system office. Prior to that, she was associate dean of the University of Georgia's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and head of UGA's department of geography. She was a member of the geography faculty from 1987 to 2007. In 2006-2007 she served as the elected president of the Association of American Geographers, a scholarly organization with more than 10,000 members. Her academic interests are in the areas of international economic development, population, and immigration. Pandit also has authored more than 40 refereed articles and book chapters and is a recipient of grants from agencies including the National Science Foundation. Born and educated in Mumbai, India, she earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from Bombay University in 1978. She received a master's degree in city and regional planning and a PhD in geography both from the Ohio State University in 1981 and 1987 respectively. |
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Mary H. Reeves, PhD, Commission on English Language Program Accreditation
Mary H. Reeves, PhD, is associate director at the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA), a U.S. Department of Education-recognized specialized accreditor for postsecondary English language programs, for which she conducts analyses, site visits, and accreditation projects. In 30 years in international education, in U.S. and international settings, Reeves has designed and administered university and private cultural and English language teaching/learning programs. She consults independently on setting professional standards, conducting external review, and carrying out quality assurance processes, with recent projects in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United States, and is a regular workshop presenter on accreditation and English language program development. As NAFSA's current vice president for education and professional development, she chairs the Knowledge Community Coordination Committee, works with knowledge community teams and subcommittees to advance comprehensive internationalization, and serves on the executive committee of the board. She is past chair of CEA, and past president and past vice president for advocacy of the American Association of Intensive English Programs. Reeves holds a PhD in educational leadership and policy studies with a focus in international education. |
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Peter M. Robinson, United States Council for International Business
Peter Robinson is president and CEO of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB), which is dedicated to promoting an open system of global commerce in which business can flourish and contribute to economic growth, human welfare and protection of the environment. He previously served as chief operating officer at USCIB, and has had longtime involvement in the field of international education, holding several positions with the American Institute for Foreign Study, an international educational travel company. He was a member of the international board of trustees of AFS (American Field Service) Intercultural Programs from 1997 to 2004, following six years on the board of directors of AFS-USA, and was an AFS high school exchange student to Austria. Robinson is a member of the Economic Club of New York, a Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association, and a member of the U.S. Trade Representative's Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee. |
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Jem Spectar, PhD, University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown
Dr. Jem Spectar is the president of the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown. He has served in a number of other leadership positions in higher education, including as provost at Western Oregon University, associate provost at the University of Scranton, director of studies and lecturer at Princeton University, and assistant dean and law professor at the University of La Verne. Having left his birthplace of Cameroon, Africa, to realize the dream of a higher education and greater opportunity in the United States, Spectar has led many successful efforts to develop and sustain international programs. At his inaugural ceremony as president of UP-J, which featured messages from Nobel Prize winner Desmond Tutu, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, and President Bill Clinton, Spectar articulated a bold vision for education driven by a rapidly changing and hyper-competitive 21st century world where the local and global are increasingly interconnected. |
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Yenbo Wu, PhD, San Francisco State University
Yenbo Wu, PhD, has been associate vice president for international education at San Francisco State University since January 2007, having served as director of the Office of International Programs and associate professor in educational administration and interdisciplinary studies from July 2000. Previously, he was director of the Office of International Studies and Programs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. From 1991 to 1996, Wu was at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, first as international program coordinator and then as director of international student programs and recruitment. Wu received his undergraduate education in English language and literature from Capital Normal University in Beijing. He earned his MEd in Teaching English as a Second Language and his PhD in comparative and international education, both from the University at Buffalo. Wu is a former Executive Committee member of the Association of International Education Administrators and member of the Internationalization Working Group of the California State University System. |
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Chunsheng Zhang, PhD, University of North Alabama
Chunsheng Zhang, PhD, is vice provost for international affairs at the University of North Alabama. Zhang previously served at the University of Oregon, where he held the positions of special assistant to the president and provost for international affairs as well as vice provost for international affairs and outreach. He has also served as associate vice president for academic affairs and international studies at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, Minnesota, and as director of study abroad, coordinator of international recruitment and associate director of the international center at the University of Missouri-Columbia. A native of China, he received his PhD and MEd in higher education administration from Bowling Green State University in 1993 and 1987, respectively, and his bachelor's degree from Nankai University in Tianjin. |
