Consejo Directivo

PRESIDENT OF THE CONAHEC BOARD

Fernando León - President

CETYS Universty

Fernando León-García is President of CETYS University, an institution he served from 1974 to 2000 in several capacities including Chief Academic Officer / Provost. Previously, Fernando served as Chancellor of City University of Seattle’s International Division where he was tasked with the development and growth of CityU’s programs, campuses, and sites outside the U.S., including but not limited to Slovakia, Greece, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, Switzerland, China, Mexico, Canada and Australia. From Spring 2004 to Winter 2008, he was Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs of CityU and during part of 2005-2006 also served as Co-Acting President of the Institution. He was recently appointed as Chair of the Council of fellows of the American Council on Education. Also, he has served as Vice President of the Board of Directors of CONAHEC.

VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE CONAHEC BOARD

Mary Fanelli Ayala - Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Eastern New Mexico University

Mary Fanelli Ayala is a Hispanic American who was raised in Philadelphia by her adoptive parents, of Italian descent.  She has a doctorate in Latin American Literature from Temple University and was a Fulbright Scholar at the Colegio de México, Mexico City. In 2001, she was named Carnegie Foundation Professor of the Year, New Mexico. Currently she is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Professor of Latin American Literature at Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, New Mexico.

VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE CONAHEC BOARD FOR CANADA

Vianne Timmons  - President

Memorial University

Dr. Timmons grew up in Newfoundland and Labrador and spent her early teaching career in Alberta and British Columbia. She moved to Atlantic Canada in 1992 to join St. Francis Xavier University, where she was the chair of the Education Department. In 1996 she joined the Faculty of Education at the University of Prince Edward Island and became vice-president, academic development, in 2001, a position she held until becoming president and vice-chancellor of the University of Regina in 2008. Dr. Timmons served University of Regina in that role for over a decade. Dr. Timmons is currently serving as president of Memorial University of Newfoundland. A scholar in family literacy and inclusive education, Dr. Timmons is also an officer of the Order of Canada and the 2019 recipient of the Indspire Award for Education.

Hector Arturo Barrio - Senior Advisor to the President of UTEP on Mexico and Latin America

University of Texas at El Paso  

Graduated from UTEP with a degree in Business Administration and has Masters in Applied Public Policy from the Foundación Internacional y para Iberoamerica de Administración y Politicas Publicas in Madrid, Spain. He currently serves as Senior Advisor to the President of UTEP on Mexico and Latin America, previously he worked as the Executive Director of International Programs and Special Assistant to the President on External Affairs. He worked at the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2003 where he held different positions.  His last post was at the Mexican Mission to the Organization of American States, where he oversaw Economic and Cooperation Affairs.  He served as Director General of the Mesoamerican Integration and Development Project (2009 – 2012), he was Deputy Director General of Social, Human and Sustainable Development of the Mesoamerica Project (2007-09), Director for Border Affairs (2005-07) and Advisor to the Undersecretary for North America (2003-05). He interned and worked at the Institute of Governance, Regulation and Finance of the World Bank.

Vacant

Mexico

Vacant

USA

Vacant

USA

Leslie Palson- Dean of International Education and Development

Georgian College

Leslie Palson has 15 years of direct international leadership experience with a total of 22 years experience in education including teaching, student services, student recruitment, programs and process development, and team building. She has significantly increased international student enrollment and relationships, has established an international strategic plan and led an expansion of international awareness and initiatives.

Roberto Pozos Cuéllar - Coordinator of the International Education Center

Universidad de la Salle

He is a Communications and Electronics Engineer from the National Polytechnic Institute, has a Specialty in Marketing and Advertising from Universidad Iberoamericana and a Master degree in Business Administration from Universidad La Salle. He has held different management positions in national and international companies, in the Consumer Electronics, Multimedia and Information Technologies sector. He was an entrepreneur for 14 years in the business consultancy and advisory sector. He joined the Universidad La Salle as a subject teacher in 2000; he was coordinator of Computer Science at the School of Administrative Sciences from 2002 to 2006. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Information Technology Education Institutions (ANIEI) from 2006 to 2018. He has taught for 19 years at bachelor, specialty and masters levels. He held the position of Academic Secretary at the School of Business from 2006 to 2018 and he is currently the Coordinator of the La Salle International Education Center since March 2018

Shana Rablah - School Chair, Selkirk International

Selkirk College

Shana Rablah has been working in the International Education and English Language Instruction field for the past 25 years as an instructor and administrator.  In the past 21 years at Selkirk College, she has worked alongside the international team to facilitate, support and oversea the significant increase of international programs and students at the college.  In addition, she is a big advocate for study abroad and international opportunities for all Selkirk students and is working to build and expand opportunities for all students and institutional collaborations.

Darla Deardorff- Executive Director

Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA)

Darla K. Deardorff is Executive Director of the Association of International Education Administrators, a national professional organization based at Duke University where she is an adjunct faculty member in the Program in Education. She has been the keynote speaker for numerous conferences around the world. Dr. Deardorff has published widely on topics of international education, global leadership and intercultural learning/assessment. She has worked in the international education field for over 15 years and has experience in study abroad, international student services, cultural programing, and ESL teaching/teacher training. 

Kara Godwin - Director for Internationalization

American Council on Education

Kara Godwin is the director of internationalization at the American Council on Education (ACE), where she leads the Internationalization Laboratory and contributes to ACE’s global research initiatives. She is also a research fellow at the Boston College Center for International Higher Education. Godwin’s previous experience includes international consulting and research for governments, NGOs, and higher education institutions on issues of internationalization, strategic policy, interdisciplinary and liberal arts education, evaluation, learning/teaching/curriculum, and emerging economies. Her clients included Duke/Duke Kunshan University, Olin College of Engineering, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, and Soka University. For several years, she led international programs at the Northwestern University teaching center and collaborated with the study abroad office. In her former career, she was an IT project manager in the United States and United Kingdom. A Pell Grant recipient and first-generation college graduate, Godwin earned her PhD in comparative and international education from Boston College, an MS in higher education and social policy from Northwestern University, and a BA in international relations and English from Augustana College.​

Jose Celso Freire - President

Brazilian Association for International Education (FAUBAI)

Prof. José Celso Freire Junior has a PhD in Computer Science from Joseph Fourier University, France. He is an Associate Professor at São Paulo State University, UNESP in Brazil. He is the current Associate Provost for International Affairs at UNESP and the President of FAUBAI, the Brazilian Association for International Education, and as such has participated as a panelist to several international events like Going Global, EAIE, NAFSA and AIEA.

Dr.Leonardo Germán Gandarilla - President & Rector

Asociación Nacional de Universidades Politécnicas (ANUP) & Universidad Politécnica del Mar y la Sierra (UPMYS)

Biochemical Engineer from Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, has a Master's Degree in Public Administration from ESCA, Escuela Superior de Contabilidad y Administración del Instituto Politécnico Nacional,Doctorate in Humanistic Education from Instituto Humanista de Sinaloa and another Doctorate in Compared National Education by the Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, he worked in the private sector as Product Supervisor and Quality Control in important Mexican companies such as Grupo VIZ, SUKARNE and Productos Bachoco. He joined in 1995 as a professor at Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, an institution in which he held first level positions as Head of the Academic Legal Department, Director of Scholarships, Representative of Universidad en la Ciudad de México UAS, Director of Social Communication, Director of the System of Academic Towers and Administrative Secretary of the Doctorate in Biotechnology. He has also served as Rector of Universidad Politécnica de Sinaloa (2011-2015), Assistant Secretary of Higher and Higher Secondary Education of the State of Sinaloa (2016-2017) and currently also as General Director of the Center for Innovation and Technological Development Markoptic, CIMAC ,. During his career he has always stood out for his leadership in the management of work teams and the achievement of goals and objectives, with a great interest in the processes of Internationalization of higher education in Mexico and in the increase of its quality with equity and inclusion. Recently nominated for the presentation of the honorary title and the award "The Name in Science and Education Award" by the Academic Union of Oxford, United Kingdom.

Bruce Johnson - Dean - College of Education

University of Arizona (UofA)

Bruce Johnson is Dean of the College of Education, Paul L. Lindsey and Kathy J. Alexander Chair, and Professor of Environmental Learning and Science Education the University of Arizona. Dr. Johnson has a PhD in Education Psychology with a minor in Science Education, an MS in Environmental Education, and a BS in Elementary Education. He was previously an elementary and middle school teacher in Arizona and New Mexico and director of outdoor schools in New Mexico and Australia. Dr. Johnson’s research includes the teaching and learning of ecological concepts, development of environmental values/attitudes and actions, curriculum development, and teacher preparation and development. He also serves as Director of the Earth Education Research and Evaluation (EERE) Team, which has conducts research on children’s ecological understandings, environmental values/attitudes, and environmental actions internationally. As International Program Coordinator for The Institute for Earth Education (IEE), Dr. Johnson oversees the development and implementation of earth education programs and leads sessions on earth education around the world.

Sean Manley-Casimir - Executive Director

Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC)

Sean Manley-Casimir is executive director of the not-for-profit Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC) which now connects over 170 member institutions. CONAHEC helps higher education institutions in North America and around the world collaborate to address humanity’s most important challenges; internationalize while strengthening local roots; and provide high quality and continuously improving study, teaching and research opportunities to diverse, interconnected people. As Director for Latin American Collaborations for The University of Arizona, he is also fortunate to represent this top-tier research oriented university and make good on its commitment to engaging with high quality Latin American partner institutions. He speaks English, French and Spanish and has worked, studied and traveled extensively in Latin America.

Raul Martinez - President

Asociación Nacional de Universidades Tecnológicas (ANUT)

President of the National Association of Technological Universities of Mexico and President of the Technological University of Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico.

Demarée Michelau - President

Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE)

A 16-year veteran of WICHE, Michelau brings outstanding higher education and leadership acumen to this role. In her current role as vice president of policy analysis and research at WICHE, she has led the thought-leadership and production of numerous higher education initiatives on behalf of state and institutional partners throughout the Western United States. She also has overseen and authored numerous research reports and data analyses—on topics ranging from equity and attainment, to articulation and transfer, to adult learning and workforce development—that provide context and analysis for diverse higher education stakeholders. She also has managed a Legislative Advisory Committee composed of WICHE-region state legislators and commission representatives, and the commission’s Policy Analysis and Research committee. She has testified before state legislatures to inform policymaking related to varied facets of higher education, efforts also informed by prior roles with the National Conference of State Legislatures, Colorado Ski Country USA, and in the office of former Colorado Rep. David Skaggs. She received her bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University, and her master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Colorado Boulder.

Jaime Valls Esponda - Executive Secretary General

Asociación Nacional de Universidades e Instituciones de Educación Superior (ANUIES)

Executive Secretary General of the National Association of Universities and Institutions of Higher Education of Mexico (ANUIES). Licenciado en Economía, del Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM); Maestría en Economía Política de la Universidad de Essex en Inglaterra, becado por el Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT). Diplomado Automatizado de Impuestos del Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). Diplomado en Información Tecnológica para Sistemas Fiscales por la Universidad de Harvard y el Lincoln Institute de Cambridge Massachusetts, Estados Unidos. Diplomado para Administradores de la Educación por la Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos en Quito, Ecuador. Fue Rector de la Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas, Gestión 2010– 2014. Anteriormente ha fungido como Presidente Municipal Constitucional de Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, periodo 2008-2010, Presidente de la Asociación de Autoridades Locales de México, A.C., Secretario de Planeación y Desarrollo Sustentable en la administración estatal pasada entre otros cargos.

Jody Dixon- Assistant Director of International Education

American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)

Jody is an experienced Intercultural Facilitator with a demonstrated history of working in the international education space. She is particularly skilled in the areas of developing and facilitating education abroad experiences for students, academic faculty, administrators and executives. She completed a Master's in International Training and Education at American University (AU) after spending five years in Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET). While completing this program, she worked very closely with the Graduate Enrollment Management team of the College of Arts and Sciences as a recruiter and prospective student adviser for the college's School of Education. She currently supports the Academic Initiatives and Transformation Division at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). Her work spans several regions, but her current projects focus specifically on developing, facilitating and supporting cultural, professional and academic international exchange experiences in East Asia. She is interested in opportunities that will utilize the skills she has honed, and networks and relationships she has cultivated, but also those that will expand her level of domestic and global engagement and overall professional repertoire.

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César Eduardo Gutiérrez Jurado - President 

Mexican Association for International Education (AMPEI)

César E. Gutiérrez Jurado is currently serving as President for Asociación Mexicana para la Educación Internacional (AMPEI) which congregates most public and private Higher Education institutions (HEIs) in México interested in international education. He is passionate about higher education, specially about internationalization, faculty, staff and student mobility as well as international partnerships for research, teaching and extension experiences. Experienced in facilitating and developing collaborative programs among world-class HEIs around the globe.