The Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP) is a program of the New York City-based International Fellowships Fund, a not-for-profit organization. The Fund (IFF) is an independently incorporated supporting organization of the Institute of International Education (IIE). A Board of Directors oversees the Fund's financial and program operations for IFP.
IFF Board of Directors
Biographies: The IFF Board of Directors
Donald McHenry
Donald McHenry served as Ambassador and U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from September 1979 until January 1981. He also served as a member of President Carter's Cabinet, and as Ambassador and U.S. Deputy Representative to the U.N. Security Council. He has studied, taught and worked in the fields of foreign policy and international law and organizations. He is the author of Micronesia: Trust Betrayed (Carnegie Endowment, 1975) and numerous articles published in professional journals and newspapers. Currently, Ambassador McHenry is a Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and president of the IRC Group, an international consulting firm.
Ambassador McHenry received his B.A. from Illinois State University, his M.A. from Southern Illinois University and has done post-graduate work at Georgetown University.
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Alison R. Bernstein
Alison R. Bernstein was appointed the Ford Foundation's Vice President for the Education, Media, Arts and Culture Program in 1996. She joined the Foundation in 1982 as a program officer and subsequently served as Director of the Education and Culture Program from 1992-1996. A former Associate Dean of Faculty at Princeton University, Bernstein is the author of two books, American Indians and World War II: Towards a New Era in Indian Affairs (University of Oklahoma Press, 1991; paperback, 1999); with Virginia B. Smith, The Impersonal Campus (Jossey-Bass, 1979) and, with Jacklyn Cock, Melting Pots and Rainbow Nations: Conversations on Difference in the U.S. and South Africa (University of Illinois Press, 2002).
Dr. Bernstein has published articles in the Teachers College Record, Signs: A Journal on Women and Culture, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Tikkun on issues related to students; transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions, access to higher education for women and minorities, diversity on campus, and the impact of womens studies. She was also an Executive Editor of Change Magazine, and currently serves on the Board of Advisors of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, and as Presidential Advisory Board Member on Tribal Colleges and Universities. Bernstein graduated from Vassar College, and received a Ph.D. and an M.A. in history from Columbia University.
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Pablo J. Farías
Pablo J. Farías is Vice-President for the Asset Building and Community Development Program of the Ford Foundation, one of the three programmatic areas for the Foundation. With a staff of 28 Program Officers in New York and 12 offices around the world, this program focuses on reducing poverty by expanding the asset base of marginalized communities, families and individuals and developing strategies to expand participation in development opportunities and the achievement of sustainable livelihoods, economic security and strong communities.
Dr. Farías joined the Ford Foundation in 1998 and served until 2003 as Representative of the Foundation for Mexico and Central America. He also served as Deputy to the Vice-President in the Assets Program, supporting the design of program strategies and the development of analysis and learning activities.
Prior to joining the Ford Foundation, Dr. Farías was the founding Director General of the College of the Southern Border (ECOSUR) in Chiapas, Mexico, a research institute focused on the challenges of poverty alleviation and sustainable development in the tropical rural areas of Southern Mexico. As founding director, Dr. Farías oversaw the development of the institutional research, postgraduate education and outreach programs and the establishment of institutional facilities in the states along Mexico’s southern border. Dr. Farías began his career in social medicine and mental health working in the refugee camps along the Mexico-Guatemala border. Together with a group of community health advocates, he established the Comitan Center for Health Research, an organization focused on reproductive health, community mental health resources and development in rural areas.
A native of Monterrey, Mexico, he studied medicine at the University of Monterrey and trained in Psychiatry at the Cambridge Hospital, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was also a fellow in Medical Anthropology. He lives with his wife and three children in New York City.
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Victor J. Goldberg
Victor J. Goldberg is presently an independent business consultant. He retired from IBM in 1993 as a corporate vice president after 34 years during which he worked as president of a manufacturing and product development division, president of a marketing division, and head of three different corporate staffs.
Mr. Goldberg received both his B.S.B.A. and his M.B.A. degrees from Northwestern University. He joined the Board of Trustees of the Institute of International Education in 1979. He is a Vice Chairman of the Board, and a member of the Executive Committee.
He also serves on the Board of Governors of the American Jewish Committee, and the boards of the Mental Health Association of Westchester County, New Alternatives for Children, and Education Through Music.
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Karen A. Holbrook
Dr. Karen A. Holbrook was appointed the 13th president of The Ohio State University on October 1, 2002 after serving in several previous capacities at the University of Georgia, including Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost. In addition, Dr. Holbrook has also held the posts of Associate Chairman and Professor of Biological Structure and Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, as well as Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School as well as Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology and Medicine (dermatology) at the University of Florida, Gainesville.
Throughout her career, Dr. Holbrook has held leadership roles and participated extensively in the activities of professional and honorary societies. She is on the Board of Directors of ACT, the Institute for International Education, ACGME (National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges) and NASULGC (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education). A prolific publisher and author, her service on faculty committees, economic development groups, search committees and other academic activities is extensive. She has been deeply involved in national and regional efforts to strengthen graduate education in America and has been active in economic development partnerships at both the community and state levels.
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Dr. Holbrook earned her B.S. and M.S. degrees in zoology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1963 and 1966, respectively. After teaching biology at Ripon College for three years, she earned a Ph.D. in biological structure from the University of Washington, School of Medicine in 1972 and pursued postdoctoral training in the Department of Dermatology.
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Barron M. Tenny
Barron M. Tenny is Executive Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel of the Ford Foundation, serving in that position since 1996. He joined the Foundation in 1983 as special assistant to the President and was made Vice President, Secretary, and General Counsel in 1984.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Mr. Tenny was general counsel, vice president, and assistant secretary of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, a community development corporation in Brooklyn, New York. From 1970 to 1974 he was an attorney with the New York law firm of Greenbaum, Wolff & Ernst.
Mr. Tenny graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1969. He received his bachelor's degree in history and science from Harvard College.
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Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas
Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas retired from the U.S. Senior Foreign Service in 2005 with the rank of Career Minister, following four decades of service. Her varied overseas assignments have taken her to Greece, Turkey, France, Belgium, Senegal, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire. Ambassador Elam-Thomas has been the recipient of four honorary doctorates, from Simmons College in Boston, the American University in London, Suffolk University in Boston and the University of Central Florida in Orlando. She holds a B.S. degree in International Business from Simmons College in Boston and a M.S. in Public Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Formerly the Diplomat-in-Residence at the University of Central Florida, Ambassador Elam-Thomas directs a new Diplomacy Program at the University. She is a Member of The American Academy of Diplomacy and serves on the Board of The Institute for International Education, The Cultural Academy for Excellence and the Board of Cooperators at Simmons College. Ambassador Elam-Thomas was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She and her husband Wilfred J. Thomas reside in Central Florida.
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Joan Dassin
Dr. Joan Dassin is the Executive Director of the International Fellowships Fund, Inc., established in 2001 to implement and oversee the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program. Dr. Dassin was Representative for the Ford Foundation Office in Brazil from 1989 to 1992 and served as the Foundations Regional Director for Latin America from 1992 to 1996. She has also worked as an independent consultant on international education projects based in Washington, D.C., and served as Basic Education Adviser to the Latin American and Caribbean Bureau of USAID, based at the Academy for Educational Development in Washington, D.C. A recipient of three Fulbright fellowships as well as other academic grants and awards, Dr. Dassin has a long-standing professional and personal commitment to international education. Before joining the Ford Foundation, she taught English and Latin American Studies at Amherst College and at Fordham and Columbia universities, and also worked as the Staff Associate for Latin America at the Social Science Research Council.
Dr. Dassin has a PhD and an MA in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University and a BA in English and American Literature from Brandeis University. Among her publications are a co-edited volume, Training a New Generation of Leaders (Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars), as well as books and articles on human rights, culture and politics in Brazil and Latin America.
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Biographies: The IFF Staff
Joan Dassin
Executive Director
Joan Dassin is responsible for overall coordination of the IFP worldwide. She works closely with the Board of Directors, the Finance and Investment Advisory Committee and the Program Advisory Committee of the International Fellowships Fund, as well as the Fund's program and administrative staff. Joan is responsible for the IFP evaluation project and works closely with several outside consultants on program communications. She also oversees all aspects of program implementation in Latin America. Joan coordinated the initial design process for IFP, which began in December 1999, and assumed the position of Executive Director of IFF when the organization was created in April 2001. Before IFP, Joan served as the Ford Foundation's Representative in Brazil and the Foundation's Regional Director for Latin America, and worked as an independent education consultant in Washington, D.C. She taught English, Communications, and Latin American Studies for a number of years at Amherst College, Fordham and Columbia Universities, and has held three Fulbright grants for teaching and research in Brazil. Joan holds a PhD in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University and has written extensively on international education and on politics and culture in Brazil.
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Mary Zurbuchen
Director for Asia and Russia
Mary Zurbuchen oversees all aspects of program implementation for Asia and Russia. She is responsible for coordinating the organizations working on the IFP placement process, developing strategic partnerships with selected universities, and improving models for pre-academic training. She is currently developing a series of case studies of IFP’s implementation in countries around the world. Mary lived and worked in Asia for two decades, including assignment as the Ford Foundation Representative in Jakarta, and two assignments as Program Officer in Education and Culture. She recently taught in and directed the Southeast Asian Studies Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, and has also taught at the University of California, Berkeley. Mary holds a PhD in linguistics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is already very familiar with IFP, having helped design IFP as part of a Ford Foundation team, and having served as consultant during its early phases. Mary joined IFP as Director for Asia and Russia in late 2003.
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Rob Oppegard
Director of Finance & Administration
Rob Oppegard oversees IFP's investments and overall budget, and administers IFP's institutional grants. He graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas with a BA in history and French. He also received a secondary teaching certificate from St. Mary's University in San Antonio, an MA in American studies from New York University, and completed a program at Columbia University in database application design and development. Rob worked at the Ford Foundation for over a decade as a grant and loan administrator in the program-related investments and economic development units. In the late 1990s, he worked at Ford as a researcher, investigating grant making in the area of information technology. He came to IFP as a budget and grant consultant in August 2001 and assumed his current position in late 2001.
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Adriana Thoen
Administrative Manager
Adriana Thoen supervises and organizes a variety of office activities in New York and worldwide for the IFP. Before joining the team in May 2003, she was an executive administrative assistant at Bank Hapoalim in New York. Adriana holds a BA in liberal arts from the University of Los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia.
Audrey Neddermann
Administrative Assistant
Audrey Neddermann assists on a range of administrative tasks and also assists Adriana on office-wide projects. Before joining IFP in October 2005, Audrey worked in the development department at Trinity Repertory Company, a theater in Providence, Rhode Island. Audrey holds a BA in theater with minors in English and French from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
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Barbara Wanasek
Grants Administrator
Barbara Wanasek collaborates with Rob on all partner institution grants. She also manages website administration and archiving projects. Barbara has worked, studied and lived abroad in Australia, France, and Russia. Most recently she worked as Director of Alumni Relations and Development for the International Partnership for Service-Learning and Leadership (IPSL). Barbara has also worked at the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) and the Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange and has volunteered with AFS Intercultural Programs and AIESEC. Barbara holds a B.A. in International Relations and French from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.P.A. in Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy from New York University.
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Diana Whitten
Communications Manager
Diana Whitten oversees all communications initiatives at IFP. She is responsible for creating and gathering the stories, photos, and videos that showcase the achievements and experiences of the IFP community, online and in print. She is currently designing strategic media tools to help build the IFP community, Alumni networks, and overall program legacy. Diana is a writer and film activist whose work has appeared on network television and in over 25 international film festivals. She is the director of Sovereignty Productions, founded as a forum in which to use video and new media to foster social change. Her first feature film, Vessel, is expected to be released in 2011. A graduate of Tufts University (BA), the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (BFA), and the Newschool Program in International Media (MA), she was a Fulbright Fellow to Indonesia in 2000 documenting the political use of shadow theater.
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Rachel Clift
Communications Associate
Rachel Clift assists Diana with all of IFP's communications initiatives, and helps design and implement online media strategies. She also conducts research, writes stories about IFP fellows, and works with consultants to update and maintain the site using the IFP content management system. Rachel is an Emmy-nominated television producer and documentary filmmaker who has created award-winning programs for PBS and The Sundance Channel on topics ranging from organic farming to microfinance. She reviews films for the nationally-syndicated radio program World Vision Report, and has also written and produced videos for numerous organizations including Habitat for Humanity, The Asian Development Bank, and Women’s World Banking. A former community organizer, Rachel received an MFA in Film from Boston University, and a BA in Women’s Studies from Hamilton College.
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