As an Associate Vice President for Academic Programs, Scott Sheridan supervises IES Abroad Centers in Australia, China, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. Since joining IES Abroad in 2021, Scott has been involved in the creation of the organization’s Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning Abroad (CETLA), for which he serves as the inaugural Director. CETLA’s initiatives include international faculty support and pedagogical innovation, curricular development, and implementation of cluster-wide assessment models, as well as revisiting student engagement, research, and reflection. Scott serves as a member of the Academic Leadership Team.

Scott received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and his Ph.D. in French Literature from the University of Iowa. His extensive experiences abroad include time spent as an auditeur libre at the Université Paris—Sorbonne (Paris IV), as well as an English language teaching assistant in a French high school as part of the governmental Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF). Prior to joining IES Abroad, he served as Director of the International Studies Program and Director of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Program at Illinois Wesleyan University. He was also a tenured full Professor of French and Italian and spent 23 years on the faculty, where he gained knowledge of academic program development, curricular assessment, and virtual instruction, in addition to extensive experience in organizing and leading short-term and semester-long study abroad programs. His published research includes examinations of global children’s literature and media, as well as pop culture stereotypes and representations of the Other.

Lauren Ostrowski serves as the Associate Vice President for Global Academic Administration in the Office of the Provost. She oversees the strategic planning process and development and implementation of the supporting structure for the various Academic Affairs units. She is also the departmental lead for staffing and resources. Additionally, she manages strategic departmental initiatives and communications to support continuous improvement across Academic Affairs. She currently oversees the Northwest Europe portfolio (Amsterdam, Dublin, and London).  She has previously served as Dean for IES Abroad Centers in Africa, China, Germany, and Spain.

Lauren was a Fulbright fellow to Madrid, Spain. While in Spain, her graduate studies research explored U.S. students’ evolving cultural and social identity during and after their study abroad experience. Upon her return to the U.S., she served in various leadership roles in the non-profit education field, most recently working for Teach For America-San Diego as Managing Director, Chief of Staff where she led regional strategy, talent, and operations. Lauren has also taught Spanish and has experience designing and leading international experiences for faculty and students. She rejoined IES Abroad as Program Dean in August 2018.

Lauren earned her B.A. in English-Creative Writing and Spanish from Illinois Wesleyan University and her M.A. in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language from Universidad Alcalá de Henares in Madrid. Her professional, personal, academic, and linguistic pursuits have sent her to Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, India, and throughout Europe.

As Senior Associate Vice President for Academic Programs and Interim Global South Cluster Dean, Lee L’Hote supervises the IES Abroad Centers in Argentina, Austria, Chile, Ecuador, Germany, Morocco, South Africa, Spain and oversees the Central Europe, Global South, and Spain Academic Clusters. Since joining IES Abroad in 2010, he has led numerous projects and initiatives for the organization, including implementing the IES Abroad MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication across IES Abroad Centers and the ongoing assessment project for IES Abroad’s Language Centers. Lee teamed with the IES Abroad Registrar to implement human subjects’ research guidelines and serves as the IES Abroad Representative on the organization’s IRB. He currently leads faculty engagement initiatives across all Centers and serves as a member of the Academic Leadership Team.

Lee holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies from the University of Kentucky and completed his undergraduate studies at Washington University in St. Louis, including a year abroad at the University of Salamanca in Spain. Before joining IES Abroad, he serviced on the faculties at Longwood University and Iowa State University. He primarily taught courses on the Spanish language, Hispanic Cinema, and Spanish Cultural Studies. At ISU, Lee served as Spanish Section Head in the Department of World Languages and Cultures as Director of the Language and Cultures for Professions Program. He also worked extensively in the study abroad field, having served as Co-Director then Director of the ISU on the Mediterranean Program in Valencia, Spain, for seven years. He has published research and presented at numerous conferences on contemporary Spanish narrative, Cinema, and culture and on a variety of study abroad-related topics, including internationalizing the curriculum, service-learning abroad, and summer programming for the professions.

Dr. Brittani Smit has extensive experience in developing and delivering high impact international education experiences in South Africa, having served as the Resident Director for South Africa programs for Arcadia University’s College of Global Studies, as well as Student Life Manager & Academic Coordinator for the CIEE Global Institute in Cape Town. In these roles, Dr. Smit was responsible for all aspects of the student experience including in-person and virtual programming, health and safety, co-curricular activities and student support, and led resource groups for underrepresented students.

Dr. Smit completed a Bachelor of Arts degree (with honors) in English Literature at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. During her junior year, she studied abroad in Rome, Italy and Cape Town, South Africa. She returned to South Africa to complete Master’s and PhD degrees in English Literature at the University of Cape Town.

While completing a doctorate on race, social class, and gender-based discrimination, Dr. Smit managed mentorship programs designed to increase equity, inclusion, and belonging for students from historically marginalized groups at the University of Cape Town. Dr. Smit has also led diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism programming and training for educational institutions and corporations throughout the U.S. and the EMEA region.