PARTNER

After working abroad as a Foreign Service Officer with the Government of Canada, Melanie spent fifteen years working as the founding Dean of Students at both Quest University Canada - Canada’s first secular, not-for-profit university, and the Schwarzman Scholars Master’s Degree fellowship program at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Melanie's distinctive understanding of global dialogue and diversity initiatives began while working as a diplomat in Canada’s Foreign Service, where she drafted international student immigration policy, and served in posts in South and Southeast Asia. Melanie leveraged those insights into the next fifteen years building out the student affairs portfolio at academic institutions in Canada and China.

As the founding Dean of Students at both Quest University and Schwarzman Scholars, Melanie developed and implemented programs, policies, and procedures to shape the student experience, from housing and health and wellness to student on-boarding, orientation, language and exchange programs, student governance and clubs, and unique community-building and leadership development programs. At both institutions she was a member of the executive team, and worked with the other senior leaders to develop the programs as they grew, respond to crises, and build relationships with stakeholders.

Melanie earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from McMaster University, a Bachelor of Education in secondary school teaching from the University of Ottawa, and a Master of Education from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Melanie’s training as a leadership coach was with the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute.

PARTNER

Kyle has held higher education leadership roles in the United States, Australia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates. Kyle served as New York University - Abu Dhabi's Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs from 2015-2022, providing strategic oversight of eighty-five staff to ensure the university reached its highest aspirations as a source of intellectual, cultural, and social vitality for both the United Arab Emirates and the wider world. A scholar of American history by training, Kyle has spent twenty years at the nexus of academic affairs and student affairs, from schools with rich histories such as University of Pennsylvania and Yale University, as well as young, vision-driven institutions such as Yale-National University of Singapore College and New York University Abu Dhabi. Kyle is currently serving as an academic advisor to Kearney Consulting.

At NYU Abu Dhabi, Kyle oversaw the Division of Student Affairs, including leadership and career development, student life, community outreach, intercultural education, spiritual life, residential education, health and wellness, and athletics. As the inaugural Dean of Students at Yale-NUS College, Kyle built structures for student engagement and support for Singapore's first residential, liberal arts institution, providing leadership on all matters related to the student experience. In Australia, he was appointed Dean of Higher Education at Academies Australasia, forging pathway programs with a dozen Australian universities, as well as consulting for a residential college at the University of Sydney. As the Dean of Jonathan Edwards College at Yale University, Kyle taught in the History Department, oversaw academic support resources, and served as the primary advisor for over a thousand undergraduate students.

Kyle earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Calvin College and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Pennsylvania.

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