Guilbert Hentschke, Professor of Education, University of Southern California
Guilbert Hentschke is the Richard T. Cooper and Mary Catherine Cooper Chair in Public School Administration at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, where he served as dean from 1988 to 2000. Currently he serves as faculty advisor in programs that join business and education at USC, teaches courses on the economics of education in the Rossier School's Ed.D. program and on globalization in its Ph.D. program, and serves as senior advisor to the National Resource Center for Charter School Finance and Governance.
Rev. Dr. Johston McMaster, Lecturer and co-ordinator of the Education for Reconciliation programme, Irish School of Ecumenics, Belfast
Johnston McMaster is lecturer and co-ordinator of the Education for Reconciliation programme, Irish School of Ecumenics, Belfast. His doctorate is from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, USA on Methodist Stewardship in Irish Politics. The research was interdisciplinary including history, theology and politics and critically examined the period from the first Home Rule Bill of 1886 to the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985. Dr McMaster has co-authored Communities of Reconciliation: Living Faith in the Public Place and Churches Working Together: A Practical Resource. A co-authored chapter is included in an ISE Festschrift, Towards a Life-Giving Ethic: Engaging Biblical Texts of Violence in the Violent Context of Northern Ireland. He is the author of Churches on the Edge: Responding Creatively to a Changing Time and has contributed chapters to publications and journals on Ethical Remembering: Commemoration in a New Context, Living Towards the Vision: A Theological Praxis of Conflict Resolution, The Role of Religion in Making Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland, An Inter-Religious Cartography of Peace. His most recent publication was A Passion for Justice: Social Ethics in the Celtic Tradition.
Professor Michael Samuel is the Former Dean of the Faculty of Education at The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Durban, South Africa.
Professor Samuel began his tertiary education career as a lecturer in Curriculum Studies at the then University of Durban-Westville (UDW) in 1989. Professor Samuel registered for his Doctorate in Education at UDW, but drew on his involvement with the University of Sussex in England. The thesis, titled: "Words, Lives and Music: On becoming a teacher of English," was highly commended by examiners who praised its innovative CD format. He was later elected Deputy Dean at the Faculty of Education and went on to become the first Director of the School of Education when it merged within the Faculty of Humanities.
David Ives, Executive Director, Albert Schweitzer Institute, Quinnipac University
David has been executive director of the institute since January 2002 and is also an adjunct professor of Latin American studies, philosophy, and international business. He holds a bachelor's degree in social work and a master's degree in student personnel and counseling, both from Ohio State University and worked on a doctorate in Latin American history at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica, where he taught agriculture. As Rotary Peace Forum Coordinator for Rotary International, he set up conferences on peace around the world.
He holds extensive global experience in higher education and the non-profit sector, most recently working as program manager at the Countryside Exchange, The Glynwood Center in Cold Spring, N.Y. He was the executive director at The Louis August Jonas Foundation in New York for 11 years, where he ran an international leadership training program for young people from countries with histories of conflict. He is directing the Albert Schweitzer Institute by building a strategic planning process, which will expand its visibility and programs in health, humanitarianism and peace. He is the co-president of the United Nations Association of New Haven and a member of the International Consortium on the Arms Trade Treaty.
Carol Dahir, Ed.D. Professor and Chairperson, New York Institute of Technology
Cultivating global awareness in school counselors is the top priority of Professor Carol Dahir, Ed.D., whose work has taken her to Japan and Turkey to expand cultural competence as a core value in NYIT's school counseling program.
"The word on the street is that we're a place that respects diversity," Dahir says. "Our program is designed to meet the needs of diverse student populations. Our graduate students also come from all over the world, from places including Taiwan, India, Lithuania, Turkey, the Philippines, the Caribbean Islands, Serbia, and Italy."
In August, Dahir traveled to Tokyo for the second phase of a two-part Fulbright scholarship (she completed phase one last year.) She worked with counselor educators at the city's Ochanomizu University and collaborated on the translation of her textbook, The Transformed School Counselor, which will be used to train Japanese school counselors in master's programs.
"The Fulbright brought the concept of transforming school counseling to Japan," Dahir says. "Japanese counseling professors are interested in making the shift from a clinical, mental health focus to school-based programs with an emphasis on more prevention and intervention work similar to what we have in the United States."
This was Dahir's third visit to Japan. On her trips, she has absorbed the country's culture, visiting Kyoto for its tranquil contrast to Tokyo's bustle, hiking Mount Fuji, and tasting cuisine beyond sushi.
School counseling students have benefited from Dahir's cultural awareness. For the past three years, she has taken them on academic exchanges to Turkey, a location encouraged by Turkish graduate students. There, they have worked with universities in Istanbul, Izmir, and Ankara. The result has been a partnership between the School of Education and the Turkish Cultural Center in New York City, where students have participated in events such as an Iftar dinner, the meal eaten by Muslims to break their fast during Ramadan.
Dahir also leads a five-day Cultural Competence Institute for students every July at NYIT-Manhattan. This past summer, graduate students from NYIT and four other universities visited centers for Orthodox Jews and Muslims, and worked with Hispanic, African-American, and Asian educators.
"We try to provide knowledge and understanding of the diverse student populations that they'll work with in New York City," she says. "We want every school counseling candidate to be culturally competent in order to best serve students and their families."
Michelle Nearon, Assistant Dean, Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, Yale University
Michelle Nearon joined the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in July 2008, where she works closely with students, members of the faculty and administration, and the McDougal Center Offices, to proactively recruit, retain, and assist in the professional development of graduate students from diverse racial, ethnic, religious, socioeconomic, political, cultural, and lifestyle backgrounds.
Dean Nearon received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in aerospace engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brooklyn Polytechnic University, respectively. After completing her master’s degree she devoted approximately ten years to both the aerospace and automotive industries, beginning as a research engineer and ultimately becoming a general manager. She then completed a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stony Brook University in May 2000. Nearon subsequently served on the faculty at Stony Brook University as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and as director of recruitment and diversification in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences until coming to Yale.
Armin A. Luistro FSC, Secretary of the Department of Education, the Philippines
Brother Armin Altamirano Luistro FSC is a Filipino La Sallian Brother who is currently the President of De La
Salle University-Manila and the Chief Executive Officer of De La Salle Philippines, Inc.
In 1977, he entered De La Salle University-Manila on a De La Salle college scholarship grant and graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Letters. From 1981 to 1985, he studied at the Ateneo de Manila University, earning master’s degree units in Religious Education and from 1991 to 1993, he studied in the Master of Arts in Religious Education program of De La Salle University-Manila where he earned his MA degree.
In 1997, Luistro was named Brother Visitor (Brother Provincial) of the De La Salle Brothers in the Philippines, a position he held until 2003. In 2000, Luistro, together with the Bishop of Manado, Indonesia, Josef Suwatan founded Universitas Katolik De La Salle, also known as De La Salle Manado. In 2004, he was appointed by the De La Salle Board of Trustees as President of the De La Salle University System and was such until the establishment of De La Salle Philippines, Inc., of which he is now the President and Chief Executive Officer.
In July 2005, Br. Armin joined the United Opposition in calling for the resignation of the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He is also a prominent figure in the activities of the Black and White Movement, a group advocating the resignation, impeachment, or ouster of President Arroyo. In June 24, 2010, Luistro accepted the post of education secretary for the cabinet of then incoming President Benigno Aquino III.
Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, Federal Minister of Education, Nigeria
Professor Ruqayyah Ahmed Rufa'i was appointed Nigerian minister of Education on 6 April 2010, when Acting President Goodluck Jonathanannounced his new cabinet.
Rufai was born in Ringim in Jigawa State, She obtained a B.Ed in History at the Bayero University, Kano in 1981, an MA in History from the same university in 1987 and PhD in Education from the West Virginia University, USA in 1991. She was Commissioner for Health under the military regime of General Sani Abacha between 1993 and 1996.
She was promoted professor in 2003, and served as Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology in Jigawa State.
