Secretary-General and Executive Director of the International Association of Universities (IAU), an independent, global association of universities and associations of higher education institutions based at UNESCO in Paris.Eva was educated in the Czech Republic, Canada and France. She studied French Literature, Political Science and International Political Economy. Her post-graduate research focused on European Union higher education policy in the 1980s. For almost 20 years she served in various senior positions at the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) prior to becoming the Secretary General of IAU in 2002. Her last position at AUCC was as vice president, International. As secretary general of IAU, an independent, global association of universities and associations of higher education institutions, based at UNESCO in Paris, Eva is engaged with many of the most pressing policy issues in higher education.Since her appointment at IAU, she has focused on expanding the Association’s convening role, consolidating the Association’s capacity as a clearing house of information on the systems and institutions of higher education around the world. Under her leadership IAU launched regular and systematic global surveys on internationalisation, created a grants programme for professional development and North-South and South-South collaboration called LEADHER and developed an advisory service to review and assess institutional internationalization strategies (ISAS). Eva contributes to many committees at UNESCO, the European Commission, OECD and others. She serves as a board member at Mykolas Romeris University in Lithuania. She has been involved in higher education reviews in Egypt, Spain and Romania. She is the co-author of Internationalization of Higher Education: Global Trends, Regional Perspectives report published in 2010 and has written and presented many papers on various higher education topics.
Egron-Polak
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About the Author: Patrick Blessinger
Dr. Patrick Blessinger is an adjunct associate professor of education at St. John's University, a math and science teacher with the New York State Education Department, and chief research scientist of the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (in consultative status with the United Nations). Dr. Blessinger is the editor and author of many books and articles and he is an educational policy analyst and contributing writer with UNESCO's Inclusive Policy Lab, University World News, The Hechinger Report, and Higher Education Tomorrow, among others. Dr. Blessinger teaches courses in education, leadership, and research methods and he serves on doctoral dissertation committees. Dr. Blessinger has been involved with accreditation certification for universities and colleges and he has been involved in various educational consulting projects. Dr. Blessinger provides professional development workshops and classes to teachers and educational leaders and regularly gives presentations at academic conferences around the world. Dr. Blessinger has received several educational awards, including: Fulbright Senior Scholar to Denmark (Department of State, USA), Governor’s Teaching Fellow (Institute of Higher Education, University of Georgia, USA), and Certified Educator (National Geographic Society, USA).