A Leadership With a Global Mindset and a Focus on Excellence

Victoria Bamond holds a BA in Anthropology and a BA in Spanish from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMASS) where she was also a Top NCAA Athlete and graduated Cum Laude. Additionally, she received a Licenciatura (equivalent to BA) in Hispanic Philology from the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, and her PhD in Humanities from the Universidad Carlos III, Madrid.

She has over 20 years’ experience in Higher Education holding positions as Professor and Researcher, Chair for the Department of Education, Vice Dean of Internationalization and Academic Projects, and Academic Director at Universidad Europea of Madrid where she led the implementation of Challenge-Based Learning Academic Model and played a key role in the internationalization of the School of Social Sciences and Communication reaching agreements with prestigious universities such as London School of Economics and Heriot Watt in UK, UC Riverside and George Mason in US. She has published in high impact Q1 and Q2 journals, was visiting Researcher at London School of Economics and holds a Management Certificate from Harvard Business School Online. She currently collaborates with the American Chamber of Commerce as a Senior Executive Mentor for the Women’s Mentoring Program;: "Moving Upwards with AmChamSpain".

Jeanette’s qualifications to serve as the Dean of Students for Schiller International University are comprised of academic achievements and professional experience. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction in Higher Ed Administration that have provided her with the leadership skills required to fulfill her current dual role. Her professional experiences offer over 15 years of leading /management to include seven years of Campus /Corp. Registrar, five years as Campus Dean, and three years as a Campus President/Director. 

Her leadership style includes the empowerment of team members. Throughout her management career she has proved that utilizing empowering techniques with team members equate to achieving goals faster and efficiently. As a Campus Director, Dean & Corp. Registrar this leadership style equates to a compliant University where all campus staff can efficiently remain compliant at their respective campuses, engage in student retention through the implementation of policies and procedure, and engaging in curricula development support.

Myriam Benraad is a prominent political scientist and scholar with a specialization in Middle East studies. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) and is known for her extensive research on Iraq, particularly the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and its impact on the country's sociopolitical dynamics.

From her position as Global Academic Chair, Dr. Benraad is involved in faculty development initiatives alongside the Provost and leads the regular review and assessment of programs within the field of International Relations & Diplomacy. Dr. Benraad also facilitates improvement plans in collaboration with Campus Directors and Global Registrars on faculty assignments and coordinate with Academic Deans to oversee Student Career and Employability plans and assure their implementation.

Alexandra Aaron holds a Master’s Degree in Finance and the Stock Market from IEB, Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles, Madrid, EDP (CAIA) Hedge Funds at IEB, Madrid, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in International Business and Economics from SIU Schiller International University where she was granted the Velázquez Award for high academic standing, outstanding leadership, and rendered service to the University. She was born and raised in Colombia, where she completed high school, and she was awarded first place in performing arts and continued her studies IEI at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. With over 19 years of experience in Higher Education and Financial Markets, Alexandra is also an Associate Professor at SIU in International Business, Economics and Finance for UG and PG programs. She is an Invited/adjunct Professor at several Business Schools. She has worked in multinational companies, and non-profit organizations in Spain and Latin America and was the founder of a local company in the insurance market.

Antonio Naranjo leads programs in the area of knowledge focused on Technology & Data across campuses at Schiller, as a Chair of this Department, STEM. His PhD in Engineering provides him with in-depth knowledge about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics required to lead the STEM department. Antonio’s professional experience working in business development and management for international universities purports him the skills to provide support to faculty assignments, program review and revision, curricular, syllabi and course content evaluation, and quality assurance. He works collaboratively with the Academic Directors of all Campuses to improve pedagogy and teaching and learning methodologies, and leading innovation projects among the faculty. In addition, he works very closely with the Head of Educational Technology, Faculty, Academic Leadership, and Student Services to facilitate the academic excellence and attractiveness of programs.

Carmen Alba was the Global Academic Chair for Business and Economics at Schiller International University from May 2021 until her promotion to Campus Director in November 2022.  She holds a PhD in Communication, an LLM in Commercial Law, a Master’s Degree in Global Marketing Management and she has a Bachelor´s Degree in Law. The last fifteen years of her professional activity have been devoted to teaching and researching at universities and business schools in Spain and the US. During this time, she has also remained active as a professional in consulting and training projects in large companies, the Public Administration and SMEs. She also carries out business plans, internationalization plans, and collaborates as a mentor for entrepreneurs with the Lean Start Up methodology in coworking spaces. In addition, she has carried out tutoring projects for companies in business growth programs in collaboration with town halls in Spain. Her teaching experience in these years has focused on subjects related to Business and Marketing (marketing, strategy, international trade, internationalization, entrepreneurship, etc.). 

She has also held the positions of Academic Director and Academic Projects Coordinator of the School of Social Sciences and Communication at Universidad Europea where she was responsible for implementing the Challenge Based Learning (CBL) methodology within the school and plan the faculty training. She has been immersed in CBL for several years now and has overseen the CBL project, which brings real world challenges from real organization and companies to our classrooms, where students learn by doing participating in the resolution of the challenges. 

Sanja Stevic’s career spans more than 23 years in the education sector, 10 of them dedicated to higher education in various roles. She holds prestigious qualifications in Business Administration, including an MBA and DBA. In her prior position as the Academic Dean for Heidelberg and Paris Campuses, she played a pivotal role in expanding Schiller's academic model and diversifying the academic faculty. Before joining Schiller in 2013 as the Program Director for International Business and Management, she gained substantial experience in university management through positions at the Mannheim Business School. Her responsibilities encompassed corporate and alumni relations, talent management, career development, mentoring, coaching, and curriculum design. It's worth noting that before relocating to Germany, Sanja Stevic also contributed her expertise to the education policy and funding sectors in various governmental departments in the UK and EU.

In her current position as the Director of the Heidelberg campus, Sanja provides leadership across all levels, overseeing the university's administration and taking charge of business development and corporate relations. Her experience in higher education equips her with the ability to effectively engage with a diverse group of stakeholders, including students, faculty, administration, and partner institutions in an international academic setting.

Aude Prebay holds a Master’s Degree in Management from ESCP Business School. She has over 16 years of professional experience, 5 of which were spent in strategy consulting and 10 in Higher Education institutions throughout Europe. Aude also was an AI start-up founder in 2020 and she has a consistent NGO field work experience in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-east Asia.  Before joining SIU, Aude acted for 5 years as Chief of staff to the Dean of ESCP Europe, a multi-campus Business School, working on quality assurance in the 5 European campuses (Berlin, London, Madrid, Paris, and Torino). Aude also leads The Paris College of Art, formally known as Parsons Paris, an American Higher Education Institution in Paris, for over 4 years.

Aude has extensive strategy, financial, and HR management experience in multicultural HEI.