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Lee Frankel
Director of Programs
Lee@academicstudies.com
Lee Frankel is the Director of Programs for ASA and oversees both
the Boston office and all sites that ASA offers. Lee grew up in New York City and Amherst,
Massachusetts and has long been exposed to study abroad. At the age of 6 he spent the summer in Mexico with
his mother, who was finishing her PhD and wanted to learn Spanish. Since then he has spent time living,
traveling, and learning about the cultures in over 20 countries. While at Ithaca College as an undergraduate, Lee
spent a semester in Salamanca, Spain where he decided that studying abroad was the single most important part
of his college experience. When he returned, he began recruiting other students to go abroad and managed to turn
it into a career. Lee's favorite part of his job is watching each student grow and mature in such a short
time while abroad. In between his constant travel to Europe, Lee plays drums in a band in Boston and
boogie boards wherever there are waves. Lee and his wife Jessica are also the proud parents of
Zachary, who is 3, and Amelia, who was born on Dec. 30, 2007. |
Lee, his wife Jessica, his son Zachary, and daughter Amelia |
Chelsea Kaloupek
Programs Manager
Chelsea@academicstudies.com
Chelsea
is the Programs Manager for ASA and works in our Boston
office. She handles enrollment and pre-departure processing for all
ASA students.
She grew up in Nebraska but moved to the East Coast to
attend college. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College,
where she majored in Spanish. Chelsea spent her junior year
abroad, living and studying in Madrid at the Universidad
Complutense, where she learned Spanish language and culture
first-hand. While living in Spain, she traveled the country
extensively and took full advantage of the cultural offerings
in Madrid, such as the art museums, theatre productions, film
festivals, and live music. While studying at Mount Holyoke,
Chelsea was involved in two Spanish play productions, for
which she served as the Assistant Director and as an actor.
She especially enjoyed playing Doña Inés in a cutting of the
famous Don Juan Tenorio. Chelsea is the main point of contact
for ASA students, as she guides them through the application
and pre-departure processes. She feels that it is extremely
rewarding to get to know the students and to be a part of
their study abroad experience. She frequently stays in contact with students after
they have completed their study abroad. While residing in
Roslindale, Massachusetts, Chelsea enjoys music, dancing, Red
Sox baseball, seeing foreign films, and practicing Spanish
whenever she can.
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Chelsea |
Mary Meadows
Programs Advisor - Southeast Region
Mary@academicstudies.com
After earning her M.S. in Higher Education Administration at Florida State, Mary went to Germany for a year. She interned in the International Programs Office in Karlsruhe and taught in-company Business English. Besides traveling, she enjoys creative writing and photography. Her professional interest is in student development theory as related to international experiences. She has also worked in recruitment and career services and can tell you how studying and interning abroad will boost your resume ahead of others at job search time. (Ja, Si, Jo, Da, Oui!) Mary grew up in a military family, which she claims has fueled her desire to travel the world and explore new cultures. She tries to add a new country every year to her passport! Mary says, "Venturing out on my own to new places has been the best challenge I ever gave myself." As the Programs Advisor for ASA in the Southeast her area includes Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, Kentucky, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi.
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Mary |
Erin Olsen
Programs Advisor - Western Region
Erin@academicstudies.com
Erin is the Programs Advisor for ASA in the Western Region and currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. She represents ASA at study abroad fairs and provides support and advice to students at schools in California, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas. Erin was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah and graduated from Westminster College in Utah with a B.A. in Marketing and a minor in French. In the fall of 2004, she studied abroad in Siracusa, Sicily. This was a huge step in a very different direction, as Erin already had eight years of French study under her belt. However, after picking up the Italian language and spending five months in a new culture, Erin fell in love with study abroad and travel itself. She has been to England, Costa Rica, France, Spain, Italy, Sicily, Morocco, Egypt, Malta, Canada, and Holland, and she plans to keep the list going!
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Erin |
Gabriela Gamper
Buenos Aires Site Director
Gabriela@academicstudies.com
Gabriela has lived in Buenos Aires her whole life and loves showing students her city and culture. She received her degree in Tourism and when she isn't helping ASA students, she is giving private tours of the city that she loves. Gabriela has traveled throughout South America and speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and English fluently. Her favorite part of the job is seeing what life is like in the U.S. without actually being there. She says that meeting students from other countries helps her learn about their culture.
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Click here to see a video of Gabriela |
Elena Rodriguez
Barcelona Site Director for UB and UAB
Elena@academicstudies.com
Elena is a native of Barcelona and speaks Spanish, Catalan and English fluently. She did doctoral work in Political Science and has a Bachelor's degree in Journalism from the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona. As part of her doctoral studies, she spent a year in Mexico at the Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey, and she volunteered in a Peace Camp in the indigenous communities in the south of Mexico. She moved to the US in 1999 and earned her Master's in Teaching Spanish at Portland State University. She spent seven years teaching at American universities and she led a group of her students on a study abroad program to Spain. She decided to move back to Barcelona in 2006.
She loves to travel and has visited dozens of countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. Elena has volunteered in many nations, including Mexico, Cuba, Thailand, the Palestinian Territories, Turkey and Germany. She truly believes that studying abroad and knowing other cultures can bring people together. |
Elena |
Paco Frisuelos
Madrid Site Director
Paco@academicstudies.com
Paco Frisuelos was born in the Spanish territories in the Sahara. He moved to Sevilla at the age
of three, which is where he ultimately grew up. He earned his undergraduate degree in Art History
at the Universidad de Sevilla and soon after came to the United States to study Communications
at McDaniel College in Maryland. Paco is currently completing two PhD programs in Art History and
Film Studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He has worked as a professor for several
American universities and for several study abroad programs, teaching Art History and Spanish
culture courses. He has extensive experience working with study abroad students as their Resident
Director, and he takes great pride in being able to make the students' time in Madrid enjoyable. In
his spare time, Paco enjoys music, film, languages, photography, art, traveling, reading, and
going to the theater. He is fluent in Spanish, English, French, and Italian. Paco believes that
studying abroad is the best experience any student can have, because it is always challenging,
rewarding, and fun to learn a new language and culture, while exposing oneself to exciting places
and new situations. Moreover, Paco knows that studying abroad is a great opportunity to meet
lifelong friends. Past ASA students have said that Paco's vast knowledge of art history, Spanish
history and culture has helped them to continue to learn, even outside of the classroom, and has
allowed them to gain even more from their time in Madrid. |
Paco |
Ana González Expósito
Salamanca Site Director
Ana@academicstudies.com
Ana grew up in Salamanca and her family has hosted study abroad students since she was
young, so she has a lifetime of experience in study abroad! In addition, Ana worked for the
Colby College program in Salamanca, so she has a wealth of experience. She has studied in
England in Worthing and Lancaster, as well as in Canada. She also received her degree in
Business Administration from the Universidad de Salamanca. Ana loves languages and in addition
to speaking Spanish and English, she is also learning French and Japanese. An enthusiastic and
energentic person, Ana is a great asset to our Salamanca program. |
Ana |
Elisa Guidera
Sevilla Site Director
Elisa@academicstudies.com
Elisa is bilingual and bicultural as she was born in the United States and raised in both the U.S. and Spain. At the University of Seville she earned a Masters degree in Fine Arts (MFA) and completed the Fine Arts PhD courses. Born into a family of Study Abroad professionals, at an early age Elisa came in touch with American students in Spain and made a career of over 20 years in Study Abroad as a teacher and administrator. She has taught Spanish Language, Culture and Art History at Universities and study abroad programs in Seville and in the U.S. As a Resident Director she has experience in Spain and Cuba. She has travelled in America, Europe, Africa and Asia. She enjoys dance, sports, music and art. One of her passions is to show people Spain, a country which she deeply loves and to guide students to understand and admire new people and cultures different from their own. |
Elisa |
Ariadna Moreira
Italy Faculty-led Program Site Director
Ariadna@academicstudies.com
Ariadna was born and raised in Brazil, but left in 1990 to do graduate work in Vocal Performance in the U.S. After earning her Masters from the New England Conservatory in Boston and her Doctorate from the University of Miami, Ariadna moved to Italy to study the Baroque technique. She is fluent in Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, and French and is currently learning German as well. She has taught both singing and languages in both the U.S. and Italy and continues to teach English to Italians in Florence. While she assists ASA students with all their needs, she still sings opera professionally throughout Europe and if she has her way, soon it will be throughout the world! |
Ariadna |
Meredith Denton
Viña del Mar Site Director
Meredith@academicstudies.com
Meredith grew up in South Carolina where she attended Wofford College and earned a B.A. in Business Economics and Spanish. After graduation, she worked for a year with an International corporation before moving to Chile to volunteer in 2002. Six months before moving back to the United States, she met her future husband and has been in Chile ever since. Meredith and Juan currently live in Viña del Mar.
Meredith has been working with international students since 2003 and one of her favorite things about the study abroad experience is seeing the changes in students after a semester abroad. Besides working with international students in Chile, she has had experience in leading study abroad trips to the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and China. When not busy with students, Meredith enjoys reading, snow skiing, hiking and any other outdoor activity. |
Meredith |
Heidi Finn
Design Director
Heidi@academicstudies.com
Heidi was born and raised in Augsburg, Germany, but moved to the U.S. when she was 15. She has traveled extensively throughout Europe and has lived in 8 different states in the U.S. Heidi has always had a love of art and got her B.A. from UMass Amherst in computer animation and painting. In addition to her love of art, Heidi is a huge music fan who loves trying to find the cheesiest songs she can to play for her friends. Heidi has been working with ASA for over 5 years and broke hearts recently when she got married to her longtime boyfriend Jeff.
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Heidi |
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