General managers of the organization of international universities of the world
Dr. Emily Blanchard
Faculty member
Emily Blanchard was sworn-in as Chief Economist on January 3, 2022. She is a leading expert on international economic policy, a professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, and a research fellow with the Center for Economic Policy Research. Professor Blanchard’s research lies at the intersection of international economics and public policy. She has written extensively on how foreign investment and global value chains are changing the role of trade and trade agreements in the 21st century, and how globalization and education shape policy outcomes and the distribution of income within and across countries. Her research is published in leading journals and has been covered by major publications including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Washington Post, and the New York Times. She has partnered with leading institutions including the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the UN, and the IMF, to bring research to practice; she currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of International Economics, Review of World Economics, Economics and Politics, and the World Trade Review; and she is former Chair and a Founding Board member for the national non-partisan, non-profit National Economic Education Delegation. An award-winning teacher, Blanchard has taught at the University of Virginia and the London School of Economics in addition to her courses at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. She graduated with honors in Economics from Wellesley College and earned MSc. and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Michael Derrios
Faculty member
Michael W. Derrios is a recognized leader in the field of government acquisition with more than 25 years of federal, military and private sector experience. He has been a member of the Senior Executive Service since 2015.
Mr. Derrios currently serves as the Senior Procurement Executive for the U.S. Department of State. In this capacity, he is responsible for planning, coordinating, directing, and evaluating all global procurement and contracting operations and activities within the Department of State as well as procurement grants and cooperative agreements, which constitute a broad and complex support mechanism for the Department and the Foreign Service. He provides department-wide leadership and serves as the principal expert advisor on formulating and developing acquisition policies and business processes for conducting procurement and contracting functions effectively and economically. The Department of State spends approximately $9.5 billion each year to carry out its mission of representing America’s foreign policy abroad and advancing the interests and security of the American people.
Prior to joining the State Department, Mr. Derrios served as the Senior Procurement Executive and Head of Contracting Activity for the United States Coast Guard (USCG) where he was responsible for all contracting functions within the agency, including functional responsibility for over 500 civilian and military personnel throughout the United States and abroad. He led efforts to recapitalize assets for the Service through Major Acquisition Programs, including award of the largest contract in USCG and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) history for detailed design and construction of the Offshore Patrol Cutter fleet with a life cycle value of $10 billion.
He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Paul Shepherd
Faculty member
Paul Shepherd (Republican Party) was a member of the Idaho House of Representatives, representing District 7B. Shepherd assumed office in 2004. Shepherd left office on December 1, 2020.
Shepherd (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Idaho House of Representatives to represent District 7B. Shepherd won in the general election on November 6, 2018.
2019-2020
Shepherd was assigned to the following committees:
House Education Committee
Resources and Conservation Committee
Transportation and Defense Committee, Vice Chair
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
Idaho committee assignments, 2017• Education• Resources and Conservation• Transportation and Defense, Vice chair
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Shepherd served on the following committees:
2015 legislative session
Idaho committee assignments, 2015
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Shepherd served on the following committees:
Idaho committee assignments, 2013
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Shepherd served on these committees:
Idaho committee assignments, 2011
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Shepherd served on these committees:
Idaho committee assignments, 2009
Also, Shepherd has had many activities as a legal and business consultant in the past years and has caused the development of the educational system in the field of law and business in the United States of America.
Shepherd considers himself a consultant in political science and a hard-headed Republican conservative and has stated that in work one should try as much as possible to reach the desired goal and be aware of all the legal ways.
Prof.Sayyid Keyvan Mahtavand
Faculty member
Professor Sayyid Keyvan Mahtavand is a political and military consultant, author, therapist, poet, and grand professor of philosophy, and grand master of hypnosis, meditation, light therapy, and chakra therapy, and an official member of Harvard University and New York University. Mahtavand is one of the top professors of hypnosis and meditation in the world competitions in Netherlands . Mahtavand passed the intelligence test at the United Nations without mistakes and at the same time he studied in 30 academic fields at Harvard, Berkeley and New York and mahtavand is a genius. Mahtavand is also the creator of Iran's first artificial intelligence software. And the master of the first series of educational films is graphic design, printing and working with printing machines. Mahtavand has other fields of study, such as international law from Amnesty International and Islamic Studies from Harvard University. Mahtavand has studied meditation since childhood. and later scientifically, Mahtavand completed his studies in the fields of medical sciences and humanities. Mahtavand has completed his education levels in the fields of information technology, film editing, writing, psychological counseling, political counseling, and strategic counseling and hypnosis and meditation and light therapy and chakra therapy. Mahtavand was a various military and educational departments have had international activities for the Intelligence Organization of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran. Mahtavand has also taught many success methods in business and life in the past years up now.
Mahtavand's books have been published in Farsi language of the Islamic Republic of Iran by Google Publishing.
Erin M. Barclay
Faculty member
Erin M. Barclay is a career member of the Senior Executive Service and serves concurrently as the Coordinator for Global Democratic Renewal in the Office of the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Human Rights and Democracy and senior official for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Prior to these positions, Erin was the Executive Director of the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. She previously ran INL’s Office of Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, as well as INL’s Office of Criminal Justice Assistance and Partnership. Prior to coming back as INL’s Executive Director, Ms. Barclay served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs in the International Organization Affairs, and Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations. She is the recipient of the 2021 President Rank Award, the 2020 F. Allen “Tex” Harris Human Rights Diplomacy Award from the United Nations Association of the National Capitol Region, and numerous State Department performance awards. Ms. Barclay began her Department of State career in the European Bureau’s Office of Assistance Coordination to Europe and Eurasia. In 2007 she moved to INL’s Office of Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East where she oversaw management of INL programs in over thirty countries.
She later served as the found director of INL’s Office of Criminal Justice Assistance and Partnership which provided strategic, technical expertise and direction to INL’s police, corrections, and rule-of-law programming and policies. As the PDAS and Acting Assistant Secretary in CSO, Ms. Barclay led all aspects of the Bureau during a period of significant transition. In the IO Bureau, Ms. Barclay served as the Department’s lead on human rights, refugee, migration and humanitarian relief policy and negotiations at the United Nations and with other international organizations.
Namita Biggins
Faculty member
Namita Biggins is currently the State Department’s Spanish-Language Spokesperson and Director of the Media Hub of the Americas based in Miami, Florida. She joined the Foreign Service in 2010, and has served in Barbados, India, Washington, DC, and Venezuela. Prior to entering the Foreign Service, she worked in the banking industry for eight years. She holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Bachelor’s degrees in International Studies and Spanish from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Namita speaks Gujarati, Hindi, and Spanish.
Dr. Rebecca Bunnell
Faculty member
Dr. Rebecca Bunnell, PhD, MEd, is the Acting Principal Deputy U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator for PEPFAR. She serves as the second in command to the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, overseeing the implementation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)’s $6 billion annual budget and activities in over 50 countries. With over 30 years of public health experience, Dr. Bunnell lived and worked for 17 years in Uganda, Kenya, and Honduras. She has worked for Peace Corps, USAID, CDC, Médecins sans Frontières, the UK Medical Research Council, and non-governmental organizations. From 2019-2023, Dr. Bunnell served as CDC’s Chief Science Officer and Director of the Office of Science, providing strategic direction and leadership for over 6,000 CDC scientists. Dr. Bunnell helped lead major public health initiatives, including PEPFAR and Global Health Security in multiple countries. A graduate of CDC’s two-year Epidemic Intelligence Service program, she worked on emergency responses including COVID-19 and Ebola. Dr. Bunnell earned a Doctor of Science degree from Harvard School of Public Health, a Masters from University of Massachusetts/Amherst, and a B.A. from Yale University. She has conducted numerous public health studies and authored over 130 scientific publications. Becky spent her early childhood in Indonesia.
Dr. Vivian Walker
Faculty member
Vivian S. Walker is the Executive Director of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy at the Department of State. Currently an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a member of the Foreign Service Journal Editorial Board, she has also served as a Faculty Fellow in the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California and the Guest Editor for the CPD Perspectives series. She has taught at Central European University’s School of Public Policy and served as a Research Fellow at the CEU Center for Media, Data and Society. She is a former Professor of National Security Strategy at the National War College in Washington, DC and the National Defense College of the United Arab Emirates. In her 26-year career with the State Department, she rose to the senior rank of Minister Counselor. She twice served as a Deputy Chief of Mission (Croatia and Armenia), twice as an Office Director (Southeastern European Affairs and the Office of Press and Public Diplomacy for Europe), a Public Affairs Officer (Kazakhstan, with coverage of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan), a Cultural Affairs officer (Tunisia) and an Information Officer (Haiti). Other assignments include a two-year professorship in strategic studies at the National War College, a yearlong assignment as the State Department’s Regional Border Coordinator in Afghanistan, and a fellowship on the US Atlantic Council, where she led the first interagency discussion on public diplomacy in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks. Dr. Walker has published and lectured extensively on the practice of public diplomacy in complex information environments. She graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and earned her doctorate in English language and literature from the University of Chicago. She speaks French, Russian and Croatian.
Dr. Cary Fowler
Faculty member
Dr. Cary Fowler is perhaps best known as the “father” of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon described as an “inspirational symbol of peace and food security for the entire humanity.” This facility provides ultimate security for more than 1 million unique crop varieties, the biological foundation of agriculture and the raw material for all future plant breeding and crop improvement efforts. Dr. Fowler is the former Executive Director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, an international organization cosponsored by Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Prior to leading the Crop Trust, he was a Professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and a senior staff member of Bioversity International. Earlier, he oversaw the UN’s first global assessment of the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources. He was responsible for drafting and negotiating the first FAO Global Plan of Action on the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources, formally adopted by 150 countries in 1996. Following this, Dr. Fowler twice served as Special Assistant to the Secretary General of the World Food Summit and represented the CGIAR in the multi-year negotiations on the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources. In 2015, Dr. Fowler was appointed to the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development by President Obama. He is a former board member of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and former chair of the Livestock Conservancy. Dr. Fowler is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has been recognized with several honorary doctorates and many awards including the Thomas Jefferson Award for Citizen Leadership, the Heinz Award, the Meyer Medal from the Crop Science Society of America, the Wm. Brown Award from the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Proctor Medal from the Garden Clubs of America. He has been profiled by The New Yorker, on CBS 60 Minutes, CBS Sunday Morning and other media, and is the subject of the documentary film, Seeds of Life. Born and raised in Tennessee, Cary Fowler served as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Rhodes College in Memphis. He earned a B.A. with honors from Simon Fraser University in Canada, and his Ph.D. from Uppsala University in Sweden.
Dr. Mamadi Yilla
Faculty member
Dr. Mamadi Yilla, PhD, is a member of the Senior Executive Service of the U.S. government and is currently the Acting Deputy Coordinator for Health Diplomacy in the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy (GHSD). She most recently served as the Acting Principal Deputy U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. As such, she served as the second-in-command to the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and supported the daily oversight, coordination, leadership, management, and implementation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to ensure that all its activities and resources, including its annual budget of approximately $6 billion in over 50 countries was as impactful, effective, and efficient as possible. Prior to joining the Department of State, Dr. Yilla served the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a research fellow in immunology, improving diagnostic tools for vaccine-preventable childhood diseases. Dr. Yilla completed undergraduate and graduate training at the State University of New York at Buffalo and post-doctoral training at MIT in Cambridge, MA. Born and raised in Sierra Leone, she was educated in Sierra Leone, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Nicole Elkon
Faculty member
Nicole Elkon joined the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) as the Deputy Assistant Secretary (“DAS”) for Private Sector Exchange in September 2021. In February 2023, she became the DAS for Professional and Cultural Exchanges. She is responsible for overseeing a broad array of professional, youth, cultural, and sports exchange programs for U.S. and international participants.
Until July 2021, Ms. Elkon was the Chief Operating Officer of Human Rights First (HRF), an independent advocacy organization focused on human rights and the rule of law. Prior to her work at HRF, Ms. Elkon was a Senior Advisor at Results for America, a non-profit organization focused on advancing data-driven, evidence-based public policy. She also served as Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary and Director of the Office of Public-Private Partnerships at ECA, working to leverage strategic partnerships to enhance Administration foreign policy priorities, from May 2015 until January 2017.
From October 2003 until March 2006, Ms. Elkon was the Director of External Affairs at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, CT.
From December 2001 through January 2003, Ms. Elkon was the Chief of Staff and Director of Communications of the 9/11 United Services Group (USG). Prior to joining the USG, Ms. Elkon was Vice President, International Communications and Strategic Planning at Merrill Lynch. She also worked in the White House as the Director for Planning for the National Security Council and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Scheduling from 1995 to 1999.
And from 1993 to 1995 Ms. Elkon was the Press Secretary at the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Ms. Elkon is a native New Yorker. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
Holly C. Holzer
Faculty member
Holly Holzer is career Foreign Service Officer who most recently served as Director for Third Country Operations for the Coordinator for Afghanistan Relocation Efforts at the Department of State. Her team managed the care and movement of individuals once they departed Afghanistan and coordinated their onward travel to the United States. Prior to this she was the Consul for Political and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Consulate General Milan. Ms. Holzer was NATO’s Deputy Senior Civilian Representative as part of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan and as a Rule of Law Advisor for USAID. While in Afghanistan, she focused on increasing women’s involvement and influence in government, with a focus on the justice sector and the peace process. She has served in Nepal, Eritrea, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Georgia. On assignment in Washington, she served as the Deputy Director in the Office of Iranian Affairs, as a Senior Advisor to the Coordinator for Cyber Issues, and in the Operations Center. In 2019, the American University in Afghanistan conveyed Ms. Holzer an Honorary Doctor of Arts and Humane Letters for her lifelong public service and work with vulnerable and at risk populations. A lover of the arts and a photographer, Ms. Holzer has engaged emerging artists forced from their homes due to conflict, war, and persecution to create economic and artistic opportunities. She has a Master of Arts in Social Work and prior to joining the Department of State, she was a social worker for families in crisis. She lives with her Foreign Service spouse and their Georgian street dog Tako.