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Management Team

The Scholar Ship is especially proud of its leadership. Each member of the management team is not only talented and experienced within his or her primary area of responsibility; more importantly, each is also a thought-leader dedicated to the development of our students’ talents, attitudes, and values as global citzens.

In alphabetical order

Dr. Ravinder S. Bhatia

Director, The Scholar Ship Research Institute

Dr. Bhatia graduated with honors from Imperial College in London with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, then worked as an aerospace engineer on aircraft fuel management systems and on spacecraft cryogenic systems. He returned to London to pursue his doctoral studies in a joint aerospace/physics program at Queen Mary College, optimizing the integration of infrared detectors with cryogenic systems for astronomical studies in cosmology, and for Earth atmospheric observations to understand better the mechanisms of ozone depletion. During this time, he also participated in the summer session of the International Space University. Dr. Bhatia subsequently pursued postdoctoral research at the California Institute of Technology before working as a Senior Engineer for The European Space Agency. In this capacity, he was responsible for the management of space technology development contracts, and for providing support to upcoming space missions including the Planck space telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope (the successor to Hubble).

In addition, Dr. Bhatia promoted the application of technologies for humanitarian purposes. He instigated a program for the simultaneous integration of satellite cartography, GSP tracking, telecommunications and telemedicine to support the logistical management of delivering antiretrovirals for HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. He participated in a research program looking at the application of terahertz imaging for detection of anti-personnel landmines for humanitarian demining. He pursued a Masters degree in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, where he researched the uses of information technologies by transnational social movements to advance the recognition of human rights in the global South.

Dr. Bhatia has volunteered for many years with a number of non-governmental organizations, including the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network and Amnesty International. He also set up educational outreach projects at the California Institute of Technology. At Cambridge University he organized the local chapter of the Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots & Shoots program.

Dr. Bhatia joined The Scholar Ship in 2006. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He lives in London in the company of his daughter Giulia and wife Laura.

 

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Mike Bonner

Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Bonner has nearly a decade of experience in the cruise industry, serving most recently as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development for Viking River Cruises from 2005 - 2006. Prior to Viking River Cruises, Mr. Bonner held a variety of positions at Royal Caribbean Cruises, joining Royal Caribbean as Manager of Strategic Projects in 1997 and eventually leaving Royal Caribbean as Vice President of Corporate and Strategic Planning in 2005. While at Royal Caribbean, Mr. Bonner directed a variety of functions, including strategic planning, corporate and capital planning, fleet deployment, and business development. Mr. Bonner was instrumental to Royal Caribbean’s decision to launch Royal Celebrity Tours, a new division aimed at packaging multiple day land programs in conjunction with Royal Caribbean’s cruises, and Mr. Bonner managed Royal Celebrity Tours in the early stages of its start up. In addition, Mr. Bonner was a major proponent of launching The Scholar Ship, and this advocacy helped to convince Royal Caribbean to fund the program.

Prior to working for Royal Caribbean, Mr. Bonner was an Associate in Booz – Allen & Hamilton’s strategy consulting practice, where he helped develop business strategies for clients in a wide variety of industries. Before graduate school, Mr. Bonner worked as an Analyst for Princeton Economics Group, an economics consulting firm, where he analyzed the competitive structure of industries for clients involved in antitrust litigation.

Mr. Bonner holds a B.A. in economics and in psychology from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College.

 

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James J. Canty

Director, Operations

Mr. Canty joined The Scholar Ship management team in 2005. He earned a B.S. in Marine Transportation/Management from the State University of New York, Maritime College, and his MBA from Florida International University. Initially working as a Port Captain for a major Japanese liner company following graduation, he was recruited by Bermuda Star Line in 1987 and shifted into the cruise industry.

Moreover, as Director of Marine Operations, Mr. Canty’s responsibilities included the management of the daily operation on three passenger vessels with capacities ranging from 850 to 1250 persons. These responsibilities included all marine maintenance and repair issues, deck personnel, port planning, and port operations. During these five years with Commodore Cruise Line, he spent a considerable amount of time managing construction and conversion projects for the three passenger vessels under his command.

Subsequently, Mr. Canty was offered a position to manage the conversion of a French research vessel into a four-masted passenger sailing vessel for Windjammer Barefoot Cruises. The 98-meter Legacy was completely gutted and re-built in accordance with the American Bureau of Shipping Construction Standards in Windjammer’s shipyard facility in Port of Spain, Trinidad. It was the first Windjammer vessel approved for operations in U.S. ports. Following the successful introduction of the vessel, Windjammer extended his employment and appointed him Vice President Corporate Development.

Mr. Canty was subsequently contracted by the “new” Commodore Cruise Line to lead its conversion project for the transformation of a passenger car ferry into a casino vessel. Work on this 135-meter vessel was conducted in the Bahamas, Virginia, and California. The vessel was completed and introduced into the San Diego market in eighteen months. Following this achievement, he continued his consultancy business, specializing in project feasibility studies, corporate development, and new project organization.

 

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Jennifer Ewald

Director, Port Programs

Ms. Ewald has served in the field of international education for the past 15 years, with an emphasis in project development and management. Beginning her career in international education, Ms. Ewald worked as the Cross-Cultural Trainer at the Centro Cultural Costarricense in Costa Rica. Following her service in Costa Rica, Ms. Ewald worked with Partners for International Education and Training supervising academic and technical training programming for trainees and students from throughout Latin America and the Caribbean region. In 1996 she transitioned from the nonprofit sector to academia, working in both international student services and study abroad programming.

Ms. Ewald served most recently as the Director of the International Center at Saint Louis University. As Director she was responsible for the development and marketing of international initiatives including, study abroad and exchange programming, international recruitment and admissions, as well as the Cyprus Masters program in Special Education.

Her work, both domestically and abroad, has allowed Ms. Ewald to develop international marketing strategies and manage training programs throughout Latin America, Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe.

Ms. Ewald earned a B.A. in General Studies, cum laude, from the University of Arizona and holds the Masters in Intercultural Management from the School for International Training. Ms. Ewald has presented nationally and internationally at NAFSA and SIETAR; she is a member of the NAFSA trainer corps and is fluent in Spanish.

 

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Alfred Flores, Jr.

Director, Onboard Life

Mr. Flores has spent the last 22 years serving in a variety of capacities with the Division of Student Affairs at Colorado State University located in Fort Collins, Colorado. Since 1990, he has served as the Director of Apartment Life which provides living and learning communities to over 3,000 residents representing more than 80 nations. During his tenure, he conceived and orchestrated the construction of the International House at Colorado State University, which houses 200 international students and serves as the hub for facilitating interactions among those throughout CSU and Fort Collins that want to engage socially in the global corridor.

In his position as the Director of Apartment Life, he was the catalyst in the Division of Student Affairs for programs and services that internationalize the outside-of-classroom experiences for students, faculty and staff. During the last four years of serving in this position, the residents of Apartment Life ranked Apartment Life in the top 1% of University Apartment programs.

Mr. Flores served at CSU as an Equal Opportunity Coordinator for national searches, served as Co-Chair for ACCION to support Latino students, staff and faculty issues, and served as advisor to many student organizations including the Third Culture Diversity Group, Muslim Student Association and the Hispanic Business Student’s Association. Prior to this, he has also served in a wide range of positions including the Assistant Director of Apartment Life, Coordinator of Renter’s Information (a tenant advocacy and education program at CSU), a Soil Conservationist with the USDA, Hall Director and a Resident Assistant at New Mexico State University.

During his formative years, he led a very mobile life, moving every year, with the exception of a four-year stay in Misawa, Japan and two years in Taipei, Taiwan. He has two daughters, Alexa, 13 and Kyra, 7 and is life partner Trina works in medical administration. He has earned a B.S. in Environmental and Resource Economics from New Mexico State University and has completed graduate course work in Student Affairs in Higher Education and Business Administration.

 

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Judith Froman

Director, Enrollment Management

Judith MacLeod Froman has been involved with higher education administration for the majority of her career.  After gaining work experience in college admission and student affairs as an undergraduate, she found that combining her interests in education, counseling and marketing, it was a natural for her to pursue a profession in college admission.  As the Assistant Director of Admission at Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio, Judith worked with traditional and non-traditional students in admission and academic advising. At that time she developed a life-long practice to assist students in aligning their interests with academic programs.

Living away from the ocean for 9 years, Ms. MacLeod Froman found herself drawn back to the ocean, eventually leading her to live on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, USA.  Following some time in the publishing industry in human resources and in teaching, Ms. MacLeod Froman found that as the Dean of Enrollment at Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, she was able to combine many of her interests:  science and oceanography, literature and history about the sea, varied teaching methods, travel (not as a tourist, but as a mariner), sailing a tall ship, teamwork toward a common goal, personal growth opportunities, problem solving, physical activity in the outdoors, and the creation of informed environmental citizens. 

Nearly seventeen years of experience with the Sea Education Association as a small, growing academic institution affiliated most directly with Boston University, allowed Judith the breadth and depth of experience in study abroad, enrollment management, educational marketing, institutional relations, quality shipboard education, and staff management in an ever changing market. These skills and a growing importance in promoting global awareness and intercultural communications proved to be the impetus for Ms. MacLeod Froman to join The Scholar Ship. 

Ms. MacLeod Froman holds a BS in Elementary and Secondary Science from Baldwin-Wallace College and graduate work in marketing and higher education administration at Cleveland State University and Baldwin-Wallace College.
 

 

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Peter Gainey

Regional Director – Asia Pacific

Mr. Gainey joined The Scholar Ship as Regional Director, Asia and Australia, in 2005. He is based in Melbourne and has been involved in international education for sixteen years. He spent seven years in Japan as Director of the International Office-Japan for the Australian universities of Wollongong, Flinders, and New England. This office was responsible for market developments in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. In addition, he spent two years heading up the Australian National University’s Asia Regional office in Bangkok, and his responsibilities included thirteen countries in East and South East Asia. Subsequent to this role, Mr. Gainey spent one year in Vietnam, consulting with the Australian HE, AFE, and ELICOS sectors. Over eight additional years, he provided market entry consulting services to educational institutions from the UK, U.S., France, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, and new Zealand.

Mr. Gainey earned a master’s degree in International Education Management from Monash University. His Graduate Diploma is in the study of Asian societies with a special focus on Japanese higher education.

 

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Dr. Joye Hardiman

 

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Tom Howard

Regional Director – Americas

Mr. Howard's career in international education spans 20 years, during which time he has worked with institutions in both the United Kingdom and Australia. He joined The Scholar Ship as a secondment from Macquarie University - Sydney, whose North American office he directed for five years.

Mr. Howard earned a B.A. with majors in both Political Science and German from Luther College (Iowa) and an M.A. in History from Southeast Missouri State University. His study abroad experiences include spending his junior year on the Wayne State University program at the University of Munich, and a year during his graduate studies as the Residence Director of the Missouri-London Program.

Prior to his time with Macquarie, Mr. Howard worked with AustraLearn: US Center for Australian Universities, as their first Manager for U.S. Institutional Relations. He also served as the first Director of the Australian Education Office (now AEI), located in the Australian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and he has worked with private colleges and universities in London.

Mr. Howard looks forward to presenting to American students the opportunity for a truly transnational study experience on The Scholar Ship.

 

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John Larkin

Regional Director – Europe  l  Middle East  l  Africa

After graduating with Honours from the University of Liverpool with a Bachelors degree in Economics and History, Mr Larkin now has more than twenty years experience of working in international higher education.  Prior to joining The Scholar Ship in 2005 he has most recently worked for Westminster University in London where he was Head of the International Education Office. Previously he was the Director of Student Services at the University of Sunderland before becoming Assistant Director of the Centre for International Education, where he worked with recruitment activities in Scandinavia and the USA. He has also undertaken a number of international consultancy and market research projects. 

He has worked on a wide range of international educational projects involving marketing, recruitment, study abroad and student exchange programmes and has acquired an extensive knowledge of international higher education trends throughout the world, particularly in Europe and North America. He is currently a member of the European Association for International Education (EAIE) Professional Section for Marketing and Recruitment, and has previously been an elected member of the International Student Exchange Programme (ISEP) Council of Advisers; and the British Universities Transatlantic Exchange Programme (BUTEX) Management Committee.
 

 

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Susan Nickens, Ph.D.

Vice President for Academic Affairs

Susan Nickens has worked in higher education for many years since she began her career at the University of Maryland as an English instructor. After joining University of Maryland University College, she served as head of the English Department, Assistant Dean, Communication, Arts and Humanities and Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, before joining the University of Maryland University College’s program for the U.S. military stationed in Europe and the Middle East. Dr. Nickens held a number of positions within UMUC-Europe including Director of Administration, Academic Director, and Director of Faculty Debelopment.

Returning from Germany in 2002 to accept the position of Associate Dean at Villa Julie College’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies, Dr. Nickens managed curriculum development, faculty development, and the advising office for adult students. Thereafter she served as Director of Academic Services at Mount St. Mary’s Division of Continuing Studies.

Dr. Nickens has received a number of grants for curriculum development, innovative program delivery, and academic support services for students, including an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant awarded to University of Maryland University College for development of an online baccalaureate accounting curriculum for which she served as principal investigator. She served as a columnist on higher education for the Frederick News Post, and consulted on instructional design for the FIPSE-sponsored MarylandOnline Quality Matters grant project. and academic program reviews, including the American Council on Education’s Military Installation Voluntary Education Review (MIVER). Dr. Nickens also served as a volunteer teacher at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center.

Dr. Nickens holds a B.A. in English with honors from North Carolina Wesleyan College; M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature and Language from University of Maryland.

 

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Dr. Joseph D. Olander

President

Throughout his career in higher education, Dr. Olander has served in a broad-ranging and diverse set of administrative and academic roles within higher education in the United States, China, and Australia. He has served as President of the South Ocean International University in Beijing, China, and as President of Asia Pacific International in Shenzhen, China. In the United States, he has served as President of The Evergreen State College, Westmar University, and Marycrest University. At the vice presidential level, he has served as Executive Vice President of Florida International University, Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas in El Paso, Provost at Golden Gate University Pacific Northwest, and Vice President for the Golden Gate University System in California. Moreover, he has served as an academic department chair, an academic dean, assistant professor, associate professor, and professor. At the state level, he served as Special Assistant for Higher education in the Office of the Commissioner of Education for the State of Florida. Finally, he served as Chair of the Board of Directors of Global Education Services, actively involved in, and responsible for, strategic planning and project development and training in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Basin.

Dr. Olander has authored, co-authored, and edited forty-eight published books, one of which—RUN TO STARLIGHT—was given an Outstanding Book of the Year Award by THE NEW YORK TIMES. He was graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from the University of Maryland and earned an M.A.T. from Rollins College and a Ph.D. from Indiana University. At Indiana University, he was awarded an NDEA Title IV Fellowship in political science with a specialty in the comparative governments and politics of China, Korea, and Japan. His languages include Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and Italian.

In addition to his working experience in China, he has lived and worked in Japan for three years, in Baffin Island for one year, and in Australia for two years. He has had international lecturing and consulting experience in Japan, China, Australia, Taiwan, North America, South America, the Caribbean Basin, and Greece, and he has served for eight years on the Education Council of the United States Olympic Committee.

 

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Dr. Driss Ouaouicha

 

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Ronald J. Zighelboim

Chief Marketing Officer

Mr. Zighelboim has spent his entire career in an entrepreneurial capacity. As Vice President and shareholder of a catalogue company, he uncovered under-served markets and founded a new business unit to capitalize on such markets. He spun off this business unit into its own firm, which he headed for eight years, subsequently merging it with an internet company. Later, he developed a small consultancy which provided marketing strategy and brand development services to a host of companies in a broad range of industries, including education and travel.

In January 2001, Mr. Zighelboim began to explore education models in study abroad and consequently founded The Scholar Ship. Over the course of four-plus years, he recruited a core management team to develop a business plan that ultimately won the support of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and other strategic partners.

Mr. Zighelboim founded the Education Trust of Coral Gables, a non-profit organization seeking to improve the public school system in his local community. He is an Advisory Board member of the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at Florida State University, from which he earned a B.S. in Communications.

 

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