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Office for Global Engagement
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Meet the Team

Our team is made up of dedicated international experts, here to help you engage globally. Meet our leadership and staff.

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Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela

Vice Provost for Global Engagement

An accomplished scholar and internationally respected leader in global education, Mabokela joins URochester from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she served as associate chancellor and vice provost for global affairs and strategies and professor of higher education in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership. Her distinguished career spans leadership roles in international education, equity and inclusion, and global partnership development across academic and governmental sectors.

As vice provost for global engagement, Mabokela serves as the University’s senior international officer, providing strategic leadership for the Office for Global Engagement. She oversees the Center for Education Abroad and the International Services Office, and leads efforts to expand international partnerships, enhance global education pathways, support international students and scholars, and elevates URochester’s global reputation in alignment with the University’s strategic plan, Boundless Possibility.

Mabokela will also hold a faculty appointment at the Warner School of Education and Human Development.

Born in South Africa, Mabokela has studied and worked on six continents and brings a rich multicultural perspective to her work. She holds a PhD in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has served as a visiting scholar and consultant at institutions across Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Her research examines equity in global higher education systems, institutional transformation, and the experiences of marginalized populations in international contexts.

Ravi Shankar

Associate Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives

Ravi Shankar headshot

Ravi Shankar currently serves in a senior leadership capacity in the Office for Global Engagement. From November 1, 2024 until September 30, 2025, Ravi Shankar served as the Interim Vice Provost for Global Engagement (VPOGE) at the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, responsible for leading the university’s global strategy in partnership development to amplify and strengthen research partnerships, faculty exchange, global learning, student mobility and support for international students. Before his appointment as the VPOGE, he served as the Assistant Vice Provost for International Services and Support at the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY.

He has been in the international education field for thirty years having worked in variety of institutions- from small schools, community college to large research institutions. Before coming to the University of Rochester, he served as the Director of the Office of International Student and Scholar Services at Northwestern University, where he was part of the senior team leading strategic global initiatives.

He has served in many leadership positions with NAFSA: Association of International Educators, including as the President and Chair of the Board of NAFSA from January 2019- December 2020. He is currently serving on the Public Policy Committee of the Association of International Education Administration (AIEA).

Ravi spent his formative years in the UK; moved to India to complete his undergraduate degree and graduate degree in Literature with particular emphasis in British and African literature. He also lived in Kenya for a couple of years before moving to the United States for further studies.

Tynelle-Stewart
Tynelle Stewart
Center for Education Abroad
Executive Director, Center for Education Abroad | Assistant Vice Provost for Global Education

Unit contacts

Our in-country program officers

My Phuong Dinh headshot

My Phuong Dinh

Vietnam: In-country Program Officer
Phuong.Dinh@rochester.edu

After having the opportunity to work for a year and a half as an Assistant Consultant at a study abroad consulting company in Ho Chi Minh City, My Phuong sought and became a one-year intern working for the Center of Global Engagement College of Staten Island in New York City, USA in 2017. After returning to Vietnam, Phuong became a member of Koru Education as a Consultant for 3 years. With a passion for international education and the desire to help more Vietnamese students have the opportunity to experience high quality international education systems as well as life, culture and people in new countries, Phuong is now a representative of the University of Rochester in Vietnam.

Aaisha Shaikh

South Asia: In-country Program Officer
ashaikh8@ur.rochester.edu

Born and raised in the Middle East, Aaisha later moved to India with her family to pursue her education and professional career. She holds a master’s degree in Psychology and brings nearly ten years of experience in international higher education, with regional expertise spanning South Asia and the Middle East.

Aaisha Shaikh is the Senior Program Officer (South Asia)  where she supports student engagement and school partnerships, recruitment, marketing and operations. She has worked extensively with education institutions including the University of New Haven and Glasgow Caledonian University.  Her lived and professional experience across South Asia and the Middle East provides her with a nuanced understanding of regional education systems, student mobility, and intercultural engagement.

Deeply committed to international education, Aaisha is motivated by the transformative power of global learning and is also an aspiring PhD student, dedicated to continued academic and professional growth.

Lina Zhang headshot

Lina Zhang

China: In-country Program Officer
Lina.Zhang@rochester.edu

Lina Zhang is the Senior Program Officer (China) based in Beijing, China, responsible for supporting the regional student recruitment, growing and maintaining the relationships between University of Rochester with partner institutions in her region. She served as a China representative at Miami University for eight years, which allowed her to witness first-hand the impacts of intercultural exchange occurring in hundreds of students that she supports and collaborates with. Proud to call this unique, meaningful career field a passion, international education enabling millions of students not only to access to high quality education from classes, but also to learn to embrace diversity and new cultures.