London Metropolitan University, UK. Nona McDuff OBE was recently appointed as a pro vice-chancellor of student experience. Throughout her 30-year career, Nona has led the debate on race, racism and the academy, shining a light on the degree awarding gap and the need for a whole institution approach to improving social mobility. In 2017, she was awarded an OBE for her work in this area and received the Guardian Teaching Excellence award. As well as creating change within institutions, Nona has helped shape the national agenda. She is a national teaching fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a member of the Advance HE Peer Review Quality Committee and has participated in several sector committees such as the UUK’s Racial Harassment Advisory Group and the ministerial group to create step changes in social mobility. Before joining London Met, Nona was the founder and first Director of Student Achievement at Kingston University, and more recently served as pro vice-chancellor, students and teaching, at Solent University.

Studyportals, Global. Jennifer Bruce has joined Studyportals management team as the new global commercial director. She has worked in higher education since 2007 and joined Studyportals in 2013. During her time at Studyportals she has gone from leading regional teams to managing large business units for the UK and EMEA. In this new role she will continue to build the global commercial organisation, together with a team of over 60 spread across the globe from Vancouver to Melbourne. Jen and the business units will continue to focus on providing long-term partnerships, data-driven solutions and diversity strategies to the ever-changing Higher Education landscape. Of her time at Studyportals, she said: “It’s been a privilege to have spent the past 10 years contributing to Studyportals outstanding growth and successes. Together we have helped change and improve the lives of many international students, and continue our mission of global education transparency, choice, and access across borders.”

ETS, Global. As the newly named global CMO for ETS, Michelle Froah is responsible for building the ETS brand, marketing and innovation globally across enterprise functions, product innovation, business marketing and community engagement. Froah leverages her extensive experience in building brands and driving growth across industries. Prior to joining ETS in 2023, Froah served as senior vice president of global brand & marketing at MetLife and previous to that led marketing, sales and operations functions across the globe for Samsung Electronics America, Kimberly-Clark, and Procter & Gamble. Froah contributes to the industry by serving on The Marketing Society board as co-chair and Fellow, Brand Innovators Advisory Board, ANA CMO Growth Council and Rye Art Center board.

Enroly, UK. Saphia Williams née Akbari has joined Enroly as Head of Business Development to lead on the sales process for new university clients. Saphia joins the edtech scale-up after 10 years at Swansea University, most recently as Head of Marketing, Recruitment & Internationalisation. Saphia said of her new role: “It’s an exciting time to be joining Enroly at a crucial stage in the company’s growth. Having seen CAS Shield in action as a partner, I’m looking forward to playing my part in helping Enroly’s prospective university clients understand the international compliance, admissions and recruitment benefits the platform can offer.”

Australian Institute of Business, Australia. Iain Hay will be taking up the position of academic dean at the Australian Institute of Business, it has been announced. With an extensive background in higher education and holding senior university positions, Iain brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the role. Most recently, as the Matthew Flinders distinguished emeritus professor of geography at Flinders University, Iain has made significant contributions to the field of education. He also currently holds positions on both the HCi (Health Care Insurance) and the SACE Boards. “I am very excited to be joining AIB. I look forward very much to taking up the wonderful legacy of Professor Ingrid Day and to working with everyone at AIB in shared efforts to ensure excellent online postgraduate business education, with a practical focus,” he said of the new role.

Coventry University Group, UK. Coventry University Group has appointed Leena Arora Kukreja as Regional Managing Director of its new India Hub, due to open later this year. Leena will be the most senior representative of the university group in the region and will lead the hub’s opening and the development of new collaborations. Alongside hubs in Brussels, Dubai, Africa, China and Singapore, the India Hub will be Coventry’s sixth global centre. Leena has extensive experience in facilitating bilateral and multilateral higher education, science and innovation collaborations, and was previously Senior Advisor at the Office of Science and Innovation based at Embassy of Sweden in New Delhi. She has also as Senior Advisor to the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, where she successfully managed the Australia India Strategic Research Fund, as Senior Advisor to the UK Science and Innovation Network for the British High Commission. Leena also established the Newton-Bhabha PhD placements and Newton-Bhabha Researcher Links Workshops as Head of the Newton fund at British Council India.

Honoris, Global. Melindi Britz was recently appointed as managing director of the Honoris Digital Division. She brings twenty-plus years of executive experience in the IT and higher education sectors with a special focus on online learning, operations, and business development. She joined after six years at 2U edX where she held a wide range of leadership positions, most recently as senior vice president for university partnerships. There she was responsible for setting up 2U’s UK operations and establishing many of the company’s prestigious partnerships such as the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, and The London School of Economics.For years, she has been committed to leveraging technology in higher education in Africa and has supported several businesses to grow from a start-up phase to maturity. Melindi is originally from South Africa.

Kaplan International, Global. Chandan Sharma has recently taken up the role of director of application management, US, at Kaplan International. He moves up from his prior position, where he was working with Kaplan on behalf of Arizona State University as its admissions organiser for India. His new role will see him head up the admissions organisation for all of Kaplan International’s US university partners. He will be based in New Delhi, India. Previously, Chandan was the AGM of language learning and market development at Macmillan Education, and held various roles prior to that at the British Council – including as head of partnerships (exams) for India.

James Cook University, Australia. Ruth Law has started a new role as the senior regional manager (Europe) for James Cook University working remotely from Southampton. In addition to contributing to the recruitment and partnership strategy for Europe, Ruth will also be working with JCU’s existing partners in the region in helping to grow the number of fee paying study abroad, exchange and full degree students studying at JCU. She has been working in international education since 1999, when living on the Gold Coast in Australia, she stumbled across a temp job in the international office at Griffith University. Moving back to the UK in 2008, she spent 11 years at the University of Southampton. Since then she has held a variety of positions with the University of Tasmania, Global Study Partners, and more recently the University for the Creative Arts. “I have thoroughly enjoyed working in both the UK and Australian international education sector and especially within student exchange, recruitment and partnership development,” she said.

The Regent Group, Global. Mark Russell has recently joined Regent Institute Middle East as the Academic Dean. Mark brings extensive experience and expertise in education management and leadership to the position. He held full professorial titles at the University of Hertfordshire, King’s College London and Khalifa University. He won the UK ‘e-tutor of the year’, and was awarded a UK National Teaching Fellowship award. In discussing his appointment Mark highlights “the incredible clarity and significant vision of Regent’s leadership team”, and his desire to “foster intellectual curiosity and develop independent and autonomous within Regent’s learners”. Doing so, he suggests, “enables Regent’s learners to create life changing opportunities, be an active part of the ‘Dubai growth story’ and have all the needed attributes and mindset to become leaders of the future”.

ETS, Global. ETS has appointed Patrick Cosh as its TOEFL client relations outreach manager for the UK and Ireland. Previously deputy head of international recruitment at Cardiff University, Patrick has almost 15 years’ experience in the international education industry, and is excited about the opportunity to develop the profile of the TOEFL Test with universities and professional bodies across the UK and Ireland. During his time at Cardiff, Patrick has managed student recruitment activities in a number of regions, including the Americas, Middle East & Africa, and South Asia. He has headed up the international recruitment team on two separate occasions, and worked closely with Cardiff’s Admissions department to develop new processes and services for applicants. He has been a member of a number of UK networks, including the UCAS International Advisory Group and the Russell Group Qualifications Network. Of his new role, Patrick said: “I’m thrilled to be joining ETS at such an important stage in the development of their UK and Ireland liaison activities. I’m looking forward to establishing new contacts, and re-connecting with existing ones across the industry.”

Adventus.io, Global. Siobhan Robinson has recently joined Adventus.io as partnership director for UK and Europe. She brings over 15 years of experience leading international recruitment strategies for UK institutions, most recently as deputy director/head of international recruitment at Cardiff University. Siobhan also spent over three years on the BUILA Executive Committee working to support the needs of Welsh and UK institutions at a sector level. Siobhan will focus on building trusted, valued partnerships optimising the unique Adventus.io SaaS marketplace to drive strategic, sustainable growth. Siobhan said: “Im thrilled to join Adventus.io, bringing my expertise and insight to support partner institutions to build and deliver their recruitment strategies. As Edtech innovations continue to provide solutions to deliver efficiency and growth for the HE industry, so the opportunity to be part of this at such a critical time for the sector is very exciting.”

Glion Institute of Higher Education, Global. GIHE has announced the appointment of Frédéric Picard as its new managing director. Before taking the role, Frédéric spent his career in the luxury hotel industry, both in Europe and internationally. He has worked for some of the world’s leading hotel groups including Le Méridien Bangkok, Intercontinental Paris, Jumeirah Dubaï, Kerzner International Morocco, Oetker Collection and La Réserve Paris, which was awarded to the highest hotel certification “Palace” only 18 months after its opening, as well as two stars Michelin. These experiences enabled him to apply his expertise by creating his own consulting company specialised in hotel projects. In this context, he was the co-founder of the Maisons Pariente hotel group, whose hotels were soon rewarded by the international press. Throughout this adventure, other private investors (Ultra Net Worth Individuals) have trusted his professional thinking and his global vision in the conception of their hotel projects in Gstaad, Saint Moritz, Florence, Girona, Porto and many others in France.

National College of Vocational Education, Australia. It has been announced that Mark Bailey is joining NCVE as head of sales and marketing of its Australia-based international division. Since commencing in the industry as an English teacher in Japan, Mark has held a number of high-level managerial positions in the ELICOS, vocational, higher education and edtech space over the past 25 years having headed up sales and marketing teams globally. Mark brings years of experience in brand and team building, sales and marketing and business development in an ever-changing international education space. NCVE is a tight knit group of industry professionals who are keen to make bold strategic investments in and effort to grow and diversify in the international education space. Mark said: “It is so exciting to work closely with the owners of the business on a day-to-day basis and seeing instant response, change and success. I look forward to working with this amazing team as we look to solidify NCVE as a premium provider in the Vocational and ELICOS space here in Australia” Mark says.

IDP, Global. Naval Varghese has recently been appointed as a client director for IDP. In his new role, he will ensure its university partners can access its student communities in a meaningful way, build data-led marketing strategies, and deliver competitive advantage through its bespoke services. Straight out of university, Naval worked at UCAS Media and continued his career at TAP SFS Media, building expertise in media, advertising, SaaS, and innovation. Naval said of his new role: “This will be an exciting challenge as the higher education sector has numerous options available to universities in building their marketing and recruitment strategies. My job is to help our universities tell their story to our audience in a way that is meaningful and authentic, allowing them to stand out amidst the commotion in the sector. I look forward to bringing innovation, data-led campaigns, careful planning, and passion into the role, IDP, and our sector.”

Morehouse College, US. Morehouse College, the US’ only all-male HBCU has appointed Maraina Montgomery as director for international education in the Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership. Maraina brings a commitment to DEIJ in education abroad and experiences supporting the development of students, systems, and processes at faith-based, HBCU, and state institutions. As assistant director for study abroad at Howard University, she developed the social media movement “hashtag Study Abroad So Black” along with pre-departure and re-entry practices documented in the Forum on Education Abroad publications, A House Where All Belong: Redesigning Education Abroad for Inclusive Excellence, edited by Nick Gozik & Heather Barclay Hamir and The Half Yet to Be Told: Study Abroad and HBCUs, edited by Andre P. Stevenson & Keshia Abraham. About her new role, Maraina said: “As a proud HBCU alumna, I am passionate about making a sustainable and global impact through this new role at Morehouse College and entering this beloved and historic institution with pure gratitude – and an ambition to help meet the mission of making international education accessible to every student.”

Dfavo, Norway. Tom Pinder has joined Dfavo as their new director of partnerships, having previously been the senior partnerships manager at edtech company Edvoy and the partnerships and strategic business development manager at Manchester-based agency UKEC. His past experience at UK HEIs has been integral in helping grow agencies sustainably, enhance their partnerships, and develop their understanding of the nuances of UK HE within the global landscape. Bringing a decade of experience to Dfavo, he’s keen expand their portfolio of partners and deepen the connections made to deliver on long-lasting and meaningful relationships with universities and sector bodies. Tom said of his new role: “I’m really excited to be joining Dfavo at this great time in the company’s growth. So much has already been achieved and I’m looking forward to helping us develop further as we continue to bloom and change the landscape of global higher education and student recruitment in partnership with institutions.” 

Navitas, Global. Navitas has announced its appointment of Tanja Ward to the position of executive general manager for university partnerships Europe. Tanja joins Navitas from Schiller International University Heidelberg Campus where she served as its campus director. She will be responsible for Lancaster University Leipzig and our two colleges in the Netherlands – Twente Pathway College and The Hague Pathway College. With a wealth of global education experience, Tanja will be a “valuable addition” to Navitas’ leadership team as we continue to grow our portfolio of colleges and campuses in #Europe. Tanja said of her new role: “I look forward to joining a global organisation with international teams working together across borders, languages, and cultures.”

The PIE, Global. Ben Titmus has joined The PIE team as its newest marketing executive, to support both the marketing team and the wider sales team. He will predominantly oversee the webinar and PIE Chat Live marketing efforts, as well as assist with the promotion of all PIE Live events throughout the year. Ben comes from a freelance background and has extensive experience in customer relations and communication. He is an English Literature and Creative Writing graduate looking forward to channelling his creative energy into all things PIE. Ben said of his new role: “I’m looking forward to starting a new journey that will see me engage with all aspects of marketing. There are several upcoming events and I’m excited to be part of a team that will be responsible for them.”

Regent Group, Global. James Slocombe has been appointed as chief academic officer of the newly created division ‘Regent Learning’. James was at CEG/CATS Global Schools for eight years and became the inaugural head of Guildhouse School following its rebranding/repositioning from CATS London in 2022. His leadership experience in proprietorial and private equity owned school groups in commercial outward-facing and profile-building roles will be used to project Regent Learning’s product portfolio globally. According to FEBE, Regent’s CAGR in 2022 was 70.76% with notable expansion in further, higher and online/on-demand education. Regent is now forging ahead with international growth plans with James leading developments in India, the EU and the USA. James said of his new role: “I’m delighted to be joining Regent as such a time of growth, with immense positive energy and enthusiasm for being a leader of quality on-demand education. As Regent’s motto goes: the end result of education is character”.