Our executives and advisors converge from wide-ranging backgrounds, with senior academics working alongside seasoned private enterprise leaders and entrepreneurs, as well as colleagues from government agencies and NGOs.
As Chief Executive Officer, Olivia steers strategic growth and transformation at INTO with an intense student focus.
Olivia brings to INTO more than two decades of experience in commercial leadership and transformational roles across a wide array of sectors. Most recently, she served as Chief Executive Officer of Flamingo Horticulture, a £500M agribusiness with 10,000 employees that sustainably grows and imports produce from Africa to the UK and Europe. She left Flamingo in March 2021, having significantly transformed the product and proposition.
Alongside her role at Flamingo, Olivia has been and continues to act as Non-Executive Director of Reach plc, the UK’s largest commercial news publisher, supporting them in their transformation from print to digital.
Previously, Olivia spent two years as a partner at Freston Ventures, advising and investing across a range of digital and technology businesses. Prior to that, she was Commercial Director at Talk Talk, the telecommunications and internet TV company, where she oversaw product and digital transformation across TV, mobile, fibre and broadband.
Olivia spent the start of her career at Lehman Brothers and then at McKinsey & Company, where she advised multiple international organisations on brand marketing and mergers and acquisition strategy. She holds a BA in Political Science from Princeton University and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
When she is not heading up strategic innovations at INTO, Olivia enjoys playing tennis and spending time with her husband, whom she met through international education, and their three children in West London, UK.
John has over 20 years’ experience in the higher education sector and has a strong background in corporate finance. As one of INTO’s founding directors, John has been a lynch-pin in the development of every Joint Venture.
After graduating from Brighton University, John joined leading accounting firm KPMG, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and gained significant experience in the corporate finance arena. John then joined a corporate finance practice in Sussex where he led many small- and medium-sized investments in London and the South East, eventually becoming a partner.
From 1995 to 2003, John was Finance Director of Study Group, where he formed a strong working relationship with founder Andrew Colin and played an instrumental role in growing the business, overseeing its acquisition by The Daily Mail Group in 1999, and helping to expand operations into Australia, the USA and Canada.
In 2006 John and Andrew established INTO University Partnerships. John has been a Director and Board Member of the company since inception. In 2012, John led a private placement process culminating in an equity investment from Leeds Equity Partners of £66 million in the group for a 25 per cent stake in the business. This investment completed the first stage of INTO’s funding plans, which are aimed at providing universities with access to significant external capital to fund innovation and capacity building in the higher education sector.
John focuses on driving business development and supporting operational leadership in order to guide the strategic direction of the company. He attributes INTO’s extraordinary growth trajectory and reputation for academic excellence to robust management, ongoing and substantial investment in learning centers, and a superior global sales and marketing infrastructure.
When he is not travelling to meet new partner institutions or visit INTO’s operations around the world, John lives in Eastbourne, East Sussex, with his wife Denise and three children Michael, George and Olivia.
Roz Chivers serves as Chief Financial Officer for INTO University Partnerships.
Roz joined INTO in 2018 after 15 years at Avios where her last role there was Head of Commercial Finance and Business Planning (FP&A).
In joining INTO, Roz relocated from the UK to San Diego to successfully lead our Commercial Finance, North America team. During that time, she transformed the level of commercial finance support provided to the North America teams.
Andy is responsible for INTO’s technology and information systems.
He joined INTO from global education and publishing company Pearson where he was for five years responsible for the provision of technical solutions to deliver digital education products.
Prior to this, he was global chief information officer for Hays — a recruitment business with operations in over 30 countries. During his five years there, he set up a new digital channel for recruitment agents and introduced systems to enable the rapid expansion of their international operations. He also spent 10 years as a management consultant with the consulting company Accenture.
Andy’s educational background includes a Chemical Physics degree from the University of Bristol in the UK, an executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in the United States and a selection of professional qualifications from the INSEAD business school in Paris.
Tom is an Australian now based in Hong Kong. He is well known to many within the industry and has an extensive wealth of experience in International Education and Recruitment.
He joined INTO from Kaplan International where he was Chief Commercial Officer for nearly 2 years and oversaw strategic reviews of expansion markets, recruitment and marketing structures and global integration initiatives
Tom’s International Education sector career started at Navitas in 2003, where he stayed until 2020, with a stint at Study Group from 2011 to 2013 as Partner Director –South and South East Asia. Prior to joining Kaplan in 2020, Tom was Navitas’ General Manager – Global Sales where he was responsible for Navitas’ global source market sales team and legal/operational entities, and previously Regional Sales Director, Greater China and North Asia.
Tom has completed Bachelors degrees in International Business and Chinese at the University of Queensland, and speaks Mandarin. He will now focus on our Recruitment business unit as a member of the Executive Team
Emma is responsible for INTO’s global People function.
She joined INTO in 2016, as VP People, before being promoted to the INTO Executive Team in 2022 as Executive Vice President, People. Emma has over 20 years of experience in global Human Resources leadership, having worked within many sectors including retail, travel, healthcare, telecommunications, FMCG, and media.
Emma started her Human Resources Leadership career within retail working for brands such as HMV Group, Mothercare, and Gap Inc., before moving into the travel sector working at Kuoni Global Travel Services. Before joining INTO, she ran her own HR consultancy for 5 years, supporting organizations with Human Resources leadership on an interim basis. Emma’s expertise and experience has helped shape INTO’s People function who support our employees across the world.
Education is very dear to Emma. She is a Board member of INTOGiving, who support projects that increase access to education and improve the quality of teaching and learning across the globe. Emma is also a Trustee of The Southover Partnership, an organization that focuses on young people with complex special needs, whose goal is to give all children a future through education.
Emma is a member of the CIPD and has a BA(Hons) degree in Business Studies and Spanish.
Namrata is INTO’s Chief Product Officer. She joined INTO from iPlato Healthcare (myGP) where she was their first Chief Product Officer leading an expansive portfolio of digital products and working closely with NHS Primary Care.
Previously, she was a Senior Director of Product at ViacomCBS leading digital product teams in the UK, Northern & Eastern Europe, Russia, and Israel. Namrata started her career as a software engineer and transitioned into product management more than a decade ago. Namrata moved to the UK in 2011 as a British Council scholar from India to pursue her MBA at Manchester Business School. She has recently completed a Global Leadership Program from Harvard Business School.
Namrata is a strong supporter of Diversity & Inclusion in the workplace, and is a popular voice in the Women in Product & Tech community.
She sits on the board of the Open University Business School, and also a number of young start-ups in London.
When she is not building products for INTO, Namrata likes to spend quality time with her husband and their 4-year-old son in North London.
Steven is one of INTO’s founding directors and leads all student recruitment activity for the group.
Fluent in Chinese, Steven is one of the world’s leading practitioners in the management of large, distributed student recruitment networks. Under his leadership, INTO currently attracts more than 12,000 students per year from all over the world to our partners.
As director of the Global Recruitment Unit, Steven oversees the activities of a global team operating out of 25+ regional offices — ensuring that students and their advisors receive outstanding service supported by customer-focused processes, all enabled by the latest technology.
His time as an international student in Taiwan in 1990 and his long experience of living and working in China gives him an unparalleled perspective of the support needed by young people studying far from home, as well as a deep awareness of the value of studying overseas — all of which, he says, are vital to him in his role today.
Steven has built his career in counselling international students and developing the systems, processes and management structures which enable institutions to recruit at scale and to deliver services and experiences which international students, their families and their representatives expect.
After university where he studied Chinese and German, Steven worked for the Anglo-Taiwan Education Centre in Taibei. There he honed his Chinese language skills and helped to establish a body to promote education in the UK that resulted in a transformation in the number of students travelling from Taiwan from 38 to 2,500 per year.
Dr. Sharon Sundue serves as Executive Vice President, US Education. In this role, Sharon oversees partnership performance and student success for all our US partner universities.
Sharon has spent her entire career in US higher education. After she received her PhD in History from Harvard University, she was appointed to the history department at Drew University and served as Associate Dean for Curriculum and Faculty Development in the College of Liberal Arts there. She has been with INTO since 2014, when we established our partnership with Drew University; under her leadership as the inaugural executive director of that partnership, Drew’s international enrollments grew from 3% to 20% of the university’s undergraduate population. Drew now ranks fourth among baccalaureate institutions in terms of international student population.
Sharon later expanded her responsibilities at INTO as Vice President, Academic Affairs, working closely with all university partnerships to develop and enhance academic programs that promote sustained enrollments and student success. In October 2021, she was promoted to Senior Vice President, Partnerships and Academic Affairs, in which role she had the opportunity to collaborate with all executive directors and university partners to drive performance.
Andrew Colin is the founder/owner of INTO University Partnerships. He provides the leadership and vision which has helped INTO to develop partnerships with leading universities across three continents.
Andrew combines a strong entrepreneurial spirit with a passion for education and international student mobility.
Back in 1981, while studying law at the London School of Economics, Andrew launched his first company - providing Apple-sponsored computer courses for schoolchildren.
In 1990, he founded and directed Study Group, which, under his leadership, became a major force in international pre-university education with centres established throughout the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and New Zealand.
In 2005, Andrew founded INTO University Partnerships, with the aim of transforming the international student experience and helping leading internationally-focused universities to expand access and improve student mobility.
Since its establishment, INTO has delivered world-class educational experiences to international students through joint venture partnerships with leading universities across the UK, the US and China.
In May 2013, Andrew received the prestigious Global Leadership Award from the University of South Florida in recognition of his contribution to international education.
Professor Sir David Eastwood is Non-Executive Chair of the INTO University Partnerships Board of Directors. He served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham from 2009 – 2021.
Former posts include Chief Executive at the Higher Education Funding Council for England, Vice-Chancellor at the University of East Anglia, and Chief Executive of the Arts and Humanities Research Board. His early career was spent at the University of Oxford, where he was Fellow and Senior Tutor of Pembroke College. He later held a Chair in Modern History and was Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University.
He is currently Chair of the Russell Group of Universities, Universitas 21, and also Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). He is also a Board Member of Universities UK (UUK), a member of the Advisory Board of the Higher Education Policy Institute, and a member of the Arts & Humanities Research Council. He also serves as an international member of the Hong Kong University Grants Committee.
In January 2012 he was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant for the county of West Midlands, and was awarded a Knighthood in 2014 for services to education.
Jeffrey is President and Co-Founder of Leeds Equity and has over 20 years of experience investing in private equity transactions in the Knowledge Industries.
Prior to co-founding Leeds Equity, Jeffrey spent seven years specializing in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance at Lazard Frères & Co. Prior to joining Lazard, Mr. Leeds served as a law clerk to the Hon. William J. Brennan, Jr. of the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Leeds also worked in the corporate department of the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York after graduating from law school.
Jeffrey currently serves as a director of BARBRI, Evanta Ventures and INTO University Partnerships. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities and Real Page (NASDAQ: RP). He has previously served as a director of Argosy University, Datamark, Miller Heiman, Ross University and Seaton, among others. Jeffrey was the founding chairman of the Green Dot New York Charter School and serves on the board of the Colin L. Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at the City College of New York. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and served on the Council on Foreign Relations Independent Task Force on Education and National Security.
Jeffrey graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a B.A. degree in History and attended Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School.
Chris has over 15 years of private equity and investment banking experience.
Prior to joining Leeds Equity in 2008, Chris worked in both London and New York for Greenhill & Co. as an Analyst in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group.
Steven is one of INTO’s founding directors and leads all student recruitment activity for the group.
Fluent in Chinese, Steven is one of the world’s leading practitioners in the management of large, distributed student recruitment networks. Under his leadership, INTO currently attracts more than 12,000 students per year from all over the world to our partners.
As director of the Global Recruitment Unit, Steven oversees the activities of a global team operating out of 25+ regional offices — ensuring that students and their advisors receive outstanding service supported by customer-focused processes, all enabled by the latest technology.
His time as an international student in Taiwan in 1990 and his long experience of living and working in China gives him an unparalleled perspective of the support needed by young people studying far from home, as well as a deep awareness of the value of studying overseas — all of which, he says, are vital to him in his role today.
Steven has built his career in counselling international students and developing the systems, processes and management structures which enable institutions to recruit at scale and to deliver services and experiences which international students, their families and their representatives expect.
After university where he studied Chinese and German, Steven worked for the Anglo-Taiwan Education Centre in Taibei. There he honed his Chinese language skills and helped to establish a body to promote education in the UK that resulted in a transformation in the number of students travelling from Taiwan from 38 to 2,500 per year.
As Chief Executive Officer, Olivia steers strategic growth and transformation at INTO with an intense student focus.
Olivia brings to INTO more than two decades of experience in commercial leadership and transformational roles across a wide array of sectors. Most recently, she served as Chief Executive Officer of Flamingo Horticulture, a £500M agribusiness with 10,000 employees that sustainably grows and imports produce from Africa to the UK and Europe. She left Flamingo in March 2021, having significantly transformed the product and proposition.
Alongside her role at Flamingo, Olivia has been and continues to act as Non-Executive Director of Reach plc, the UK’s largest commercial news publisher, supporting them in their transformation from print to digital.
Previously, Olivia spent two years as a partner at Freston Ventures, advising and investing across a range of digital and technology businesses. Prior to that, she was Commercial Director at Talk Talk, the telecommunications and internet TV company, where she oversaw product and digital transformation across TV, mobile, fibre and broadband.
Olivia spent the start of her career at Lehman Brothers and then at McKinsey & Company, where she advised multiple international organisations on brand marketing and mergers and acquisition strategy. She holds a BA in Political Science from Princeton University and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
When she is not heading up strategic innovations at INTO, Olivia enjoys playing tennis and spending time with her husband, whom she met through international education, and their three children in West London, UK.
John has over 20 years’ experience in the higher education sector and has a strong background in corporate finance. As one of INTO’s founding directors, John has been a lynch-pin in the development of every Joint Venture.
After graduating from Brighton University, John joined leading accounting firm KPMG, where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and gained significant experience in the corporate finance arena. John then joined a corporate finance practice in Sussex where he led many small- and medium-sized investments in London and the South East, eventually becoming a partner.
From 1995 to 2003, John was Finance Director of Study Group, where he formed a strong working relationship with founder Andrew Colin and played an instrumental role in growing the business, overseeing its acquisition by The Daily Mail Group in 1999, and helping to expand operations into Australia, the USA and Canada.
In 2006 John and Andrew established INTO University Partnerships. John has been a Director and Board Member of the company since inception. In 2012, John led a private placement process culminating in an equity investment from Leeds Equity Partners of £66 million in the group for a 25 per cent stake in the business. This investment completed the first stage of INTO’s funding plans, which are aimed at providing universities with access to significant external capital to fund innovation and capacity building in the higher education sector.
John focuses on driving business development and supporting operational leadership in order to guide the strategic direction of the company. He attributes INTO’s extraordinary growth trajectory and reputation for academic excellence to robust management, ongoing and substantial investment in learning centers, and a superior global sales and marketing infrastructure.
When he is not travelling to meet new partner institutions or visit INTO’s operations around the world, John lives in Eastbourne, East Sussex, with his wife Denise and three children Michael, George and Olivia.
Bridget has over 20 years’ experience in the higher education sector, and a strong background in management, leadership, international student services and welfare & international admissions.
Bridget has worked with INTO since 2005, during which time she has overseen the initial set up and implementation of the UK INTO centres, as well as the establishment of the Admissions and Application Processing functions in Brighton and San Diego.
Bridget has also acted as start-up director in the majority of INTO’s joint ventures and established the Student Services operation for INTO China. In addition, she has been heavily involved in setting up our immigration compliance function.
Nuala Corr is Senior Vice President, UK Partnerships.
Previously, she served as Center Director for INTO Queen’s University Belfast, a role pivotal to the success of the joint venture and is responsible for all operations and administrative functions.
Nuala has over 16 years’ experience working within international education at several institutions. Her most recent role prior to joining INTO Queen’s in May 2019 was within the International Office at Queen’s University Belfast. As part of her role, she had led on the interface between the INTO center and the University, developing both strategic and operational plans to achieve ambitious partnership aspirations. She also was instrumental in driving the delivery of direct entry targets to Queen’s University from key partners globally, working collaboratively with key internal and external stakeholders to maximize outcomes.
Nuala is fully committed to nurturing and strengthening relationships between INTO and its partner universities, developing long-term sustainable recruitment outcomes for the mutual benefit of all partners.
Tuukka has over 20 years’ experience in combining cross-functional competencies in international higher education within the public and private HE sectors.
Between 2009 and 2017, Tuukka has held senior positions within the recruitment team with INTO University Partnerships, including the management of INTO’s global regional office network. In 2017, he assumed the responsibility for developing INTO’s direct entry provision to ensure the business became more optimally positioned to deliver growth in direct entry enrolments. During this time Tuukka provided strategic direction over a significant investment and expansion, successfully guiding this function to a company-wide integration in 2022.
Based in Brighton, Tuukka is currently Senior Vice President, UK Partnerships, providing leadership to a number of INTO’s center directors, their management teams and employees in the UK. His responsibilities cover leading and strengthening INTO’s relationships with university partners to ensure the organization continues to add significant value across its partnerships.
Dawn Abbott has been the Center Director for INTO Manchester since it opened in 2008 and leads the team at the center to provide all aspects of student support and academic matters.
Dawn has a degree in French and Spanish from the University of Nottingham, and has over 25 years of experience working in international education in the UK, Spain and Brazil. She started her management career at an English language school in Brazil and then returned to the UK to take her Master’s in Applied Linguistics and English Language Teaching at King’s College London. She continued in teaching, teacher training and management in the private and the further education sectors prior to INTO Manchester.
In her spare time, Dawn enjoys reading, travelling, yoga and spending time with family and friends.
Karen joined INTO City, University of London in May 2019.
From an early career in the NHS as a Registered Nurse, Midwife and Health Visitor, Karen made her first move into a career in education via Further Education (FE). Several geographical moves took Karen to the East of England where she joined a large FE and higher education college to manage an NHS workforce development contract, in association with the University of Essex and Anglia Ruskin University. In a five-year period, Karen grew the contract and provision to represent a quarter of the college's total income, providing allied health professionals across multiple disciplines to NHS East of England.
Following a personal tragedy in 2009 Karen changed career. Completing a Masters in Systemic Leadership with the Tavistock, she became a Professional Interim Manager and Consultant. Over a 10-year period, Karen developed a reputation in the FE and HE sectors she worked with, for her commercial acumen and curriculum development skills, as well as for her ability to turnaround failing provision and deliver a professional and exemplary student experience. Karen’s final interim project was with INTO Queens University Belfast, from where she caught the INTO bug.
When not working Karen can be found outdoors (Forest, Moors, Beach and Fenland) with her very special English Bull Terrier Jumble — who is food for mind, body and soul.
Kevin Conroy has been the Center Director of INTO Newcastle University since its launch in February 2007 and has spent the best part of his career in international higher education. Prior to INTO, he was the Director of the Language Center at Newcastle University and has been in Newcastle since 2000.
Kevin has taught and managed in international higher education for some 40 years in a wide variety of situations in the UK, US, Africa and the Middle East. During his career to date he has held posts in higher education as Senior Lecturer, Learning Resource Manager, Teacher Trainer, Head of Department, Academic Head and Director.
Since completing graduate studies in the UK and the US in the late 1970s, Kevin has taught widely at the tertiary level, run university programs and departments, managed projects in teacher education and course-book development for international universities, ministries of higher education and for the United Nations. His academic background is in English, Applied Linguistics and Educational Management (with a first degree in English and postgraduate degrees in three subjects: English, Education and Management).
Kevin has particular interests in educational management, international collaboration, curriculum design, assessment, teacher education and staff development. He has a passionate interest in international education… not surprising since he has spent most of his life in it! He believes that INTO plays a vital role in providing international students with a wonderful range of opportunities to access first class university education in the UK and internationally.
Neil has over 15 years’ experience of working in international education and supporting international students to achieve successful outcomes in the UK.
Neil initially trained and worked as a design engineer and has a PhD from the University of Exeter, a master’s degree from the University of Strathclyde and an honors degree from the University of Glasgow. He is a fellow member of the Higher Education Academy.
After a very successful time in senior posts at Glasgow University’s international college, Neil now leads one of the most well-established and prestigious pathway centers in the UK. INTO University of Exeter offers a range of courses that prepares international students for progression to both undergraduate and postgraduate education. In this role, Neil provides leadership for the INTO center, with over 1000 students annually and 90+ staff.
Neil has a wealth of experience in resource management, strategic leadership, complex stakeholder management, academic delivery of pathway programs and quality assurance.
In his spare time, Neil tries to see as many live music gigs as he can, and is an avid supporter of both the Scottish national football team and the Glasgow Rangers.
Eleanor Maly joined INTO as Centre Director of INTO University of Stirling in October 2022.
Ellie joined us after five years as Director of Operations and Director of Education at International House London, prior to which she was UK Operations Director for Embassy English. Ellie has over 15 years’ experience in the international education sector and over 10 years' experience in educational leadership. She has lived and worked in several countries around the world, including Lesotho, South Korea, and Cambodia. Ellie served on the ASAC, the Governance Committee for the British Council, and was Treasurer of English UK London.
Ellie is completing an Executive MBA with Cranfield University and holds a first-class degree in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh.
Debbie joined INTO in February 2007, first in the Head Office before taking the role as Center Director at INTO University of East Anglia later that year and relocating her family to Norwich.
Debbie began her career in higher education back in 1982, when she joined the Finance Department of the West London Institute of Higher Education, based on the banks of the River Thames on the outskirts of Richmond. Rapid promotion soon saw her leading her own team as Head of Management Information, where she was responsible for systems and statutory returns including the first ever HESA return.
A merger between the WLIHE and Brunel University saw Debbie progress into the University as Deputy Head of Planning. At Brunel she was approached to set up the systems for a new Department responsible for the recruitment and care of international students, a major strategic development for the University at the time, which led to her being the main University liaison with Navitas and introduced her to the pathway sector.
Debbie studied management at Loughborough University.
Steven Richman serves as Senior Vice President, Partnerships, for INTO’s public university partners. In this role, Steven oversees partnership performance, growth and student success for INTO Oregon State University, INTO University of South Florida, INTO The University of Alabama at Birmingham, INTO George Mason University and INTO Illinois State University.
Steven has spent most of his career in international education with Hofstra University. He received his JD from Hofstra University and his MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. Beginning in 2012, Steven served in leadership roles as Senior Director of Global Initiatives at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law, followed by Dean of International Recruitment and Dean for Global Opportunities for Hofstra University. In these roles, he and his teams grew, diversified and stabilized international enrollments by implementing comprehensive admission policies, recruitment strategies and data insights to manage student pipelines. He was also a founding member of the online Health Law and Policy LLM/MA program, in which he currently serves as Special Professor of Law.
In addition to university experience, Steven has presented on international education around the globe, including at NAFSA conferences, and he has held leadership positions in Study New York and the American Association of Law Schools. In 2019, upon the launch of INTO’s partnership with Hofstra, Steven became founding Executive Director of INTO Hofstra University.
Yasmin Sefer serves as Senior Vice President, Partnerships, for INTO’s private university partners. In this role, Yasmin oversees partnership performance, growth and student success for INTO Drew University, INTO Saint Louis University, INTO Suffolk University and INTO Hofstra University.
Yasmin has spent most of her career in international education, and she has been with INTO for nearly 12 years, most recently serving as VP, Recruitment. Before spearheading our North America recruitment efforts with great success, Yasmin joined INTO in 2010 from Kaplan, where she was Senior Manager, International Sales and Market Development.
Yasmin received her BA in Political Science from New York University.
Laura Arthur has worked in the field of international higher education administration for more than twenty years.
Since 2010, she has served as Drew University’s Director of International Student and Scholar Services, spearheading all aspects of advising and student support services for the university’s entire population of international students and scholars from over 50 countries. She has also served as INTO Drew’s Director of Student Experience since the partnership commenced, supervising the center’s academic coaching program in addition to student health and wellness support and services that enhance the curricular and co-curricular student experience and further the internationalization efforts of the University. Prior to joining Drew, Laura served as Director of International Services at Stevens Institute of Technology and associate Director of International Programs for Students at the University of South Carolina.
Laura holds a master’s degree in International Education and Exchange Management from the Graduate Institute of the School for International Training in Vermont. As an undergraduate, she earned her BA in International Relations from the University of Wisconsin and was, during this time, an international student in Madrid — this was a transformative experience for her and provided her with a sense of just how powerful a globalized education can be for a student.
Dr. Frank Gaughan serves as Interim Executive Director for INTO Hofstra University.
Dr. Gaughan joined Hofstra in 2003, after studying English and composition at the University of Massachusetts at Boston and at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He is the Academic Director and Interim Executive Director of INTO Hofstra, a pathway program for international students and English language learners. He teaches courses in writing and rhetoric with attention to language acquisition and developing first-year college writers. He has published work on the relationship between writing studies and English departments, emphasizing the impact of independent writing programs on the college curriculum.
Bob Gilmour is the Executive Director of INTO Oregon State University. In this role, Bob provides leadership for the INTO OSU center with 700 students and 80+ staff and faculty.
Bob has over 26 years' experience of working with international students in UK and US universities as an instructor, faculty member, program manager and director. He has been in the at OSU since 2010 following 18 years at Newcastle University in the UK. He has also lived and worked in France, Poland and Ecuador.
He has presented at conferences nationally and internationally on a variety of topics including multimedia online learning environments and international student engagement.
Since 2015, Bob has traveled worldwide working with educational counsellors, sponsors, schools and parents as well as meeting students who are hoping to study at OSU!
In his spare time, Bob rides his road bike around the Oregon countryside, sings and plays guitar in a band and competes in a wide variety of games against his two boys.
David Hofmann joined INTO UAB as Executive Director August 2016 prior to the program's first cohort of students. Since then, INTO UAB has brought almost 700 students to UAB.
In this role, David overseas INTO UAB center operations; international marketing, recruitment and enrollment for all center programs and direct entry; student experience; providing quality Academic English programs; and collaborations with the university.
David has over 20 years of experience in Higher Education, most recently spending 12 years with The Art Institute system of schools. Within this organization he served as Director of Housing, Dean of Student Affairs, Regional Vice President-Student Affairs, and Campus Director of The Art Institute of St. Louis. Prior to that he worked for Boston University and Texas Christian University. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and a Master's degree from Texas Christian University.
Whitney J Miller joined INTO Illinois State University in 2018 and is the Director of Partnership Operations and the Director of Marketing and Recruitment.
In these roles, Whitney overseas partnership communications, operations, and directs global international branding, marketing and recruitment efforts for Illinois state University.
Whitney has more than eight years of experience working in higher education with a focus in international education. Before joining Illinois State University, she worked with Arizona State University and George Mason University, focusing on marketing, recruitment, student learning and intercultural competency outcomes in higher education. Whitney holds a Master’s degree in International Education Management from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, a Bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance with a minor in French from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and will complete a Master of Business Administration in 2023 from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign with concentrations in Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship and Strategic Innovation.
Dr. Todd Rose currently serves as the Executive Director of INTO Mason, a position he has held since January 2015.
INTO Mason is a joint venture between George Mason University and INTO University Partners (UK) and provides English language, academic, and cultural support to students from around the world, primarily in the first year of their undergraduate or graduate degrees. Before this role, he was the Assoc. Dean in University Life and head the Higher Education concentration in the MAIS program at Mason from 2010-2015.
Dr. Rose has spent almost 30 years in higher education, working at four very different institutions. In addition to his time at Mason, he was a Vice President at Millsaps College (MS), Asst. Dean of Students at Emory University (GA), and in a variety of positions at Baldwin-Wallace University (OH).
Before his career in higher education, Dr. Rose was a commercial lending officer at a large, regional bank in Nashville, TN working with companies in the service industry sector with annual sales of $10 million to $100 million. He earned a BBA in Finance (minor:Economics) from Southern Methodist University (TX), an MBA from Baldwin-Wallace University (OH), and a PhD in Educational Leadership and Research (with an emphasis in Higher Education) from The University of Southern Mississippi (MS).
Dr. Kathy Sparaco is the Executive Director of INTO Suffolk University. As INTO Suffolk’s first Executive Director, Dr. Sparaco is responsible for delivering success to the JV partners and stakeholders. She joined Suffolk in 2012 as the Director of the International Office after completing her EdD.
Over the past 7 years, she has played a key role contributing to Suffolk University’s internationalization efforts. Prior to her current role, Dr. Sparaco was the Assistant Provost overseeing the Division of Student Success. She is a seasoned administrator, but her professional origins began in front of the classroom with teaching ESL in Japan. Teaching ESL abroad and in the U.S. was a professionally formative experience that provided the infrastructure for her future goals. Throughout her career she has worked on behalf of international students and professionals in community colleges, public research, and private institutions. She brings a clear understanding of the skill set needed to design and implement innovative and relevant processes to meet critical campus resources in realizing internationalization goals.
Dr. Sparaco holds an M.Ed.in Education from San Francisco State University and an EdD from Drexel University where she pursued a degree in Higher Education Leadership and Management. She has a practical and practiced approach to her work but is informed by research. Her dissertation focused on the phenomenon of internationalization in higher education and, specifically, the professional lives of practitioners who work with international students. Her research considered (1) what encompassed the lived experience of international student advisors, (2) what emergent concerns might be important in the experiences of international student advisors, and (3) in what way have the personal constructs of professionalism and professional identity for international student advisors been developed? Understanding how practitioners in the field of international education found an authentic sense of professional self was a hugely rewarding study. Kathy is currently conducting research with Suffolk faculty on faculty and staff best practices with international students.
Kathy lives in Scituate, Massachusetts with her husband, son, two cats and two dogs. She enjoys the outdoors, yoga and is passionate about scratch cooking.
Amanda Turner joined INTO in our very first Australian partnership as The University of Western Australia (UWA) College Director in early 2022.
Prior to this Amanda work at UWA as Associate Director, Global Engagement in a role focused on establishing and operationalizing UWA’s strategies aimed at increasing successful international engagement and growth.
Amanda has a Bachelor of Commerce and postgraduate qualifications in Information Technology. She has spent a large portion of her professional life within the education sector predominantly as Divisional General Manager for Students and Education at the University of Tasmania. Other education organizations she has worked at include the Australian Maritime College, Western Sydney University and Charles Darwin University.
Amanda has also worked in a number of leadership roles in the community services sector that focused on disability support in Tasmania, and assisting the long term unemployed and indigenous communities in the Northern Territory.
With a career in international education spanning almost 30 years, Tim's work has encompassed most aspects of international education. He is responsible for helping to shape and expand INTO’s partner university network.
Prior to his current assignment, Tim spent eight years with INTO supporting the expansion of INTO's UK network. His work has included responsibility for INTO's market insight, external relations, and working as managing director for UK operations.
Before joining INTO, Tim worked in a variety of senior international roles in UK universities with responsibility for recruitment, alumni, student exchange, internationalization and establishing presence across many of the key markets in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Tim and his teams collected three HEIST (the UK's leading marketing awards for higher education) Gold awards for excellence in international marketing during his tenure in the UK university sector.
Tim represented the university sector as a member of the international board of the UCAS, the UK's national university admissions service. He also served as a board member of the Northern Consortium of Universities in the United Kingdom. He has consulted for the British Council, DAAD – the German international education organization and continues to speak regularly at external fora and conferences.
Tim is a graduate of International Relations and Political Science from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom.
David brings over 22 years of international education sector experience to INTO. In his role, he develops and executes a comprehensive, long-term business development strategy targeted at cultivating relationships with North American universities to drive institutional growth, create new revenue streams and expand options for students.
David has extensive experience working with U.S., U.K., Australian and Canadian universities; he previously oversaw the strategic development of partnerships at Shorelight Education, as well as partnership development at Navitas, North America as Executive General Manager. Prior to that, he was the Managing Director, North America at INTO University Partnerships, where he established the organization in the market and oversaw the planning, launch and management of INTO’s initial six university partnerships in the United States. Under David’s leadership, INTO grew its North American university partner network and student populations from the ground up. David also spent time at Kaplan Inc., where he was instrumental in the development of Kaplan’s first university partnership in the United Kingdom.
David has traveled extensively in over 50 countries, including Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. David is based in San Diego, CA, and holds a bachelor’s degree in international politics from Penn State University and an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management, where he graduated with high honors.
Lisa Henkel serves as the Vice President of Operations. In this role, Lisa is responsible for providing project leadership and managing centralized resources to support US network projects and process improvement initiatives.
Aside from serving eight years in the United States Air Force, Lisa has spent her entire career in higher education. Prior to joining INTO, Lisa served in a variety of roles at University of Maryland Global Campus where she led the implementation of operational strategies and objectives across multiple revenue-generating and support departments. Lisa spent ten years in the university’s overseas divisions, including three years as the director of downrange and Europe operations, where she was responsible for directing enrollment operations across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Lisa has a master's degree in management and a Master of Business Administration from UMGC. She is also Agile, Lean Six Sigma and PROSCI Change Management certified.
Steve serves as a member of the Business Development and Partnerships team for the United Kingdom, working closely with prospective partners and international education organizations.
He joined INTO in 2012, establishing the company’s the student placement business, which now has commercial contracts with over 100 universities across the UK and Europe.
Prior to joining INTO, Steve had 20 years’ experience in student recruitment, admissions, events and project management roles including working at a range of UK universities including the University of Salford, where he was director of the international office. He has previously sat on the advisory council for the Northern Consortium UK.
He holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Liverpool and a postgraduate marketing qualification from Liverpool John Moores University.
Daniel is the Recruitment and Business Development Director, ANZ, for INTO. He has worked in international education for over 20 years, with and for universities, agents and private providers around the globe, mostly in sales, marketing and general management.
Recently, Daniel has also learned a lot from HR and education technology roles, and he firmly believes tech will continue to reshape every aspect of international education from marketing and recruitment to teaching and learning and beyond.
As an exchange student during his MBA, Daniel experienced the enduring and amplifying value of international study. He loves being part of realizing that opportunity for others.