2019-2020 AIEA Presidential Fellows

Dafina Blacksher Diabate is Director of International Programs at Lincoln University. Serving as the senior international officer at one of the oldest Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Diabate provides leadership for the university’s international programs, partnerships, and strategy. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Consortium on International Education, and currently serves on the 2020 conference committee for Diversity Abroad. She earned her master’s in Africana studies from Cornell University and her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.

Jonathan Lee is the Director of the Global Engagement Office at Chicago State University. He oversees all global initiatives for the institution, including International Student and Scholar Services, Education Abroad, Global Affairs, the creation of an Intensive English Program, and more. Lee is an active member in international education organizations, such as AIEA AND NAFSA. He previously held positions at Governors State University, University of Illinois at Chicago, Valparaiso University, and Purdue University Northwest.

Tonija Navas is the Director of the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center at Howard University. She oversees global programming, study abroad and works to strengthen comprehensive internationalization overall. Ms. Navas is active in AIEA and NAFSA and presents frequently on diversity & inclusion issues, among other topics. She is a graduate of Macalester College (BA), George Washington University (MA) and is currently working towards her PhD at Howard University in Higher Education Leadership.

Gretchen Neisler is Vice Provost of International Affairs at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. She is also the director of the Center for International Education. Neisler is active in AIEA, the Commission on International Initiatives within APLU and the Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development. She was previously the director of the Center for Global Engagement at Michigan State University. Neisler’s most recent publication is a book titled Success After Tenure: Supporting Mid-Career Faculty.

Kalpen Trivedi is Associate Provost and Director of the International Programs Office at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where he leads campus strategy and initiatives for comprehensive international engagement. His prior international administrative experience includes program design and evaluation travel health and safety. Kalpen was a Radhakrishnan Scholar (Oxford) and a Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Scholar, and he holds a doctorate in Medieval Literature from Manchester University. He presents regularly on current issues in international education.

*View 2019-2020 Mentors photo/bio here.