For the past 14 years, I have been attending AACRAO and AACRAO-affiliated meetings. I love this organization and its mission. I am both honored and humbled to be a recipient of the AACRAO Centennial Award. I met my wife of 32 years at the University of Pennsylvania. At that time, the registrar might have reviewed my transcript and said, “Oh look, Mark has used every letter available on the transcript: from A to F, a P and a bunch of I’s (for incomplete)." Degree auditing was made for people like me. I originally came to AACRAO as a vendor. I earn my living by serving those who work to put on college commencement ceremonies. Over the years, clients and colleagues have become friends. I love serving the organization with photography and hosting vendor sessions that are designed to help with professional development. Currently I am the North American Sales and Marketing Coordinator for GradPak and the President of American Photo Marketing, an event-based photography company. I plan on coming back to AACRAO for years to come.
Mr. Brian Bates is a senor evaluator at GCE West. Recently the Vice President for Admissions and Student Affairs at the prestigious Thunderbird, The Gavin School of International Management. Mr. Bates is a recognized expert in credential evaluations. He has held leadership positions in AACRAO (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers) and NAFSA ( Association of International Educators), of which Mr. Bates is a life member.
Gloria Nathanson is Associate Director for Undergraduate Admission and Relations with Schools at UCLA. Her position at UCLA focuses on coordination of international selection, development of recruitment and marketing publications, organization budget and planning, policy development, and special project oversight and management. She also participates in University of California system-wide policy and planning committees including undergraduate international admission at the UC campuses. Gloria has been an active member of AACRAO and NAFSA, serving as AACRAO Vice President for International Education from 2000 to 2003. She has written numerous publications on international admission and given presentations at regional, national, and international conferences. Gloria holds a BA in Music from UCLA, and an Executive Management Diploma, UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Nancy Keteku, originally from Massachusetts, has lived in Ghana since 1976. She has directed the U.S. Embassy's Educational Advising Center in Accra since 1990 and has served as the Department of State's Regional Educational Advising Coordinator for Sub-Saharan Africa. Regional Educational Advising Coordinators are responsible for promoting increased enrollment of African students in U.S. higher education. She travels throughout Africa and represents the region's interests in publications and conference presentations. Nancy holds a Bachelor's degree from Vassar College, and her first taste of international education took place at Leningrad State University in 1971.
Kathleen Trayte Freeman has more than 20 years of experience in international admissions and foreign credential evaluation. She co-authored the 2007 AACRAO publication, The Educational System of France, as well as AACRAO monographs on the educational systems of Tunisia, Mauritania, Yemen and Seychelles. Ms. Freeman was a participant in the 2002 Fulbright Higher Education Administrators program in Germany, the 1999 Baden-Wurttemberg Seminar, and was selected for the NAFSA-OSEAS-State Department Program in Lyon, France in 1998. She is an active member of NAFSA: Association of International Educators where she served as chair of the Recruitment, Admission and Preparation (RAP) Knowledge Community and is the layout and design editor of the RAP newsletter, wRAP Up. She was previously the RAP representative to the NAFSA Subcommittee on Information Management and served as chair of the Web Access Task Force.
Don Terpstra spent 22 years as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Information Agency and U.S. Department of State. While abroad, his duties in cultural and public affairs included managing professional and academic exchange programs. He holds a BA in English and MA in history.
Barbara B. Glave began participating in international education when she transferred in 1965 to the Universidad de las Américas, Mexico City, from which she graduated in 1967 with a B.A. in Spanish, with minors in French and Linguistics. At LSU, she earned an M.A. in Spanish and Romance Philology in 1969, plus 24 additional credits in the same fields. From 1972 to 1983, she taught Spanish and English/ESL at the University of Houston – Downtown. In 1982, she passed the ATA Spanish-to-English certification exam. In 1980, she co-founded SpanTran Educational Services in Houston; she remained until 2012. In 2013, she joined Credential Consultants as a part-time translator and researcher; in 2014, she joined SDR Evaluations and Translations as a part-time evaluator and researcher.
Barbara is a longtime member of ATA and NAFSA: Association of International Educators; she served on the NAFSA Trainers Corps, 2009-16. She has served on the Scholarship and Publications Committee of AICE, the Association of International Credential Evaluators.
Barbara has authored/co-authored ten country profiles for the NAFSA Online Guide to Educational Systems Around the World: Albania, Argentina, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico and Sudan as well as an overview of Mexican education for NAFSA IEM Spotlight, posted April, 2014. In addition to the accomplishments detailed above, she has over 80 activities as a committee member, consultant, panelist, moderator, session presenter, and workshop leader in comparative international education. She is the recipient of the 2015 NAFSA Region III Outstanding Service award.
Linda Kosene has a Bachelor’s Degree in Humanities from Thomas A. Edison State College and a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Rowan University, both New Jersey institutions. She was the Associate Director of Marketing and Editor of International Publications for AACRAO. Linda has worked in the area of college/university admissions and records since 1999. In that capacity, she’s been responsible for developing policies and procedures for international students and, additionally, serving as the designated service officer. Most recently, Linda worked to promote a not-for-profit in the field of foreign credential evaluation and spoke frequently on this topic at regional conferences. She has also completed two, independent research projects; one in the area of intercultural communications and the other on career counseling for returning adult students and presented her findings at regional conferences. Linda has worked extensively as a freelance writer in South Florida.
Jane Yahr Shepard has worked as the International Admission Manager in the Office of Admissions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her experience in the field of international education includes foreign credential evaluation, international student admissions, international scholarship management, and cross-cultural training and instruction. She has made presentations on topics related to international admissions at state, regional and national levels, and has done research and publication for various professional journals and a PIER publication (Poland). She has been a member of AACRAO's International Publication Advisory Committee (Chair from 2005-07). She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism and a Master of Arts degree in Education and Human Development, with a specialization in International Education.
Dr. Ravi Kallur is currently the Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities, Assistant Dean of Graduate Medical Education and Director of E. Grey Dimond MD Program in International Medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He has a PhD in Higher Education Administration and an MPA in health care administration. Dr. Kallur has extensive experience in international recruitment, admissions, advising, immigration, programming and office administration. He is the co-author of Special Report on India published by AACRAO/NAFSA. He has presented at regional and national meetings of AACRAO and NAFSA on topics of Indian Higher Education to best practices in developing international programs office. He reviews applications for undergraduate and graduate placement of FSA, Muskie and other programs.
Dr. Shahrzad Kamyab, born in Iran, holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration with an emphasis in Comparative International Education from Florida State University. She has been a professor of Comparative Education and Student Teaching Supervisor at Chapman University, and Coordinator for Study Abroad at Grossmont College in San Diego. She was invited to Iran by the Ministry of Education to conduct workshops for Iranian educators, and has consulted with the Ministry of Education on various projects. She has also been published in Russia and has been invited to lecture at the pedagogical universities in Siberia.
Dr. Kamyab is the author of book chapters and articles with a focus on youth unemployment and higher education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and specifically Iran's Higher Education. Currently, authoring an edited volume on Internationalization of Higher education and the unintended consequences. In addition, Dr. Kamyab has been a visiting professor in Mexico and Iran.
Carol McAllister has served as the Assistant Director of International Admissions and Special Programs at California State University, Northridge. She has a Master of Arts in Educational Administration from California State University, Northridge and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of Southern California. Carol has been involved in international education and evaluation since 1982 and has presented at NAFSA and AACRAO conferences.
Dr. Linda Jahn earned her Master of Science degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and her Ph.D. in Counselor Education from the University of North Texas. She served as Admissions Counselor at the University of Nebraska from 1974-1984 and as Director of International Admissions at the University of North Texas from 1985 to 2001. She has served as Director of International Academic Credential Evaluators, Inc. in Denton, Texas. Dr. Jahn has contributed to AACRAO and NAFSA publications including The Guide (an AACRAO resource for International Admissions Professionals), PIER Workshop Report on Canada, and The Educational System of France.