Joan Gillespie
Joan Gillespie is a deeply respected academic leader in international education, with more than 20 years of experience shaping and advancing study abroad programming for U.S. undergraduates. Known for her thoughtful and caring leadership, Joan played a pivotal role at IES Abroad and beyond, particularly in developing standards for undergraduate research abroad, program quality, student learning assessment, and intercultural development. She authored the first IES Abroad MAP—a groundbreaking framework that remains foundational in the field—and continues to be a driving force behind academic quality and curricular innovation. Joan leads faculty development workshops, ensuring instructors are well-equipped to guide transformative off-campus experiences, and teaches graduate-level courses in comparative higher education and strategic international partnerships. A prolific scholar and sought-after speaker, she brings a rare blend of intellectual rigor, intercultural insight, and a steadfast commitment to student growth to everything she does.
“I keep a personal file of testimonials about international education, written by students, parents, and faculty. Some samplings:Joan Gillespie
“Thank you for this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
“I was wary of sending my child so far away, but now I realize it was the best thing I could have done for them.”
“My student came home after a semester in (Paris, Nantes, Madrid, Freiburg, etc.) showing so much improvement in (French, Spanish, German, etc.) I would not have believed it possible.”
Whenever one of these notes arrived in an e-mail or, even better, as a handwritten thank-you, it made my day. The writers only begin to catalogue the many benefits of a term of study abroad that we know as educators: from the student perspective—encounters, mostly positive and sometimes negative, that constitute wonder and discovery, and always a new way of thinking about oneself and the world; from parents’ perspective—the challenges and demands placed on their child by a new environment that can lead to greater confidence, resourcefulness, and sense of identity; from faculty members—the gratification of witnessing how students embrace new learning.
More than speaking to the theory, these writers testify to the strength of the IES community, joined heart, hand, and mind to the mission: preparing students for lives guided by cross-cultural knowledge, engagement, and friendship. This community is large. It starts with the staff members and faculty at the IES Centers, IES Chicago, offices of off-campus studies, and faculty at U.S. colleges and universities. It extends to homestay hosts, language partners, field trip guides, and internship mentors.
Whether they work directly or indirectly with students, all of them bring expertise that is essential to the ambitions and purpose of IES. This 75th anniversary celebration is testimony to the enthusiasm and dedication of so many hundreds of people who gave—and continue to give—their best ideas and unflagging energy to this great project of inspiring students’ curiosity about the world.
When I joined IES, the field was propelled by changing attitudes about international education and expanding well beyond the traditional venue of language departments and their majors. A new generation of students voiced new interests in locations around the globe.
Faculty across disciplines saw the value in their students learning different approaches and perspectives. Home campuses adjusted their policies on credit transfer and funding models. Universities abroad created options for short-term international students. This confluence of initiatives resulted in increasingly greater numbers of students and faculty going abroad.
This continuing growth directed my work toward our shared future in new ways. I mentored newcomers to the field. I also taught graduate-level courses on comparative higher education and international partnerships at Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy, and I conducted research and wrote about the student and faculty experience of international education. I know the field is in strong hands and look forward to following the continued progress of IES. As for myself, I continue to travel, to practice what I preach by engaging new people, places, and ideas, and guided, as we want our students to be guided, by cross-cultural knowledge, engagement, and friendship.”