Graduate Education

Ellen Switkes

Senior Associate

Ellen Switkes is Senior Associate and Co-founder of the “Breakfast with George” mentoring program for higher education executives who are ready to move into senior executive positions. She also is co-founder and Director of CSHE’s Berkeley Institutes on Higher Education (BIHE), targeted to higher education leaders from nations outside the United States. BIHE focused on the essential characteristics of major research universities in the United States, with particular emphasis on the University of California as a case study, and on linking Institute programs with CSHE-based policy research...

Aray Saniyazova

SERU-International Research Associate

Aray Saniyazova is a SERU-International Research Associate. She holds a Master’s degree in education from Vanderbilt University (2011), and PhD in education from Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan (2017).

Her research interests focus on contemporary issues of higher education: transition from high school to university; student experience and college climate; gender issues in education; institutional development of newly established universities. She was involved in the collaborative research project of the Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education and the University of...

Marc Torka

Research associate, Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney (Australia) and WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Marc is a sociologist of higher education, science and the profession. His general interest is how, if at all, institutional changes impact on the practice of academic and professional work. His current research project 'International comparison of doctoral training practices' compares practices of doctoral research and supervision in the social sciences and physics within the German chair, Australian lecturer and US graduate school system.

Marc is currently visiting scholar at the Center of Studies in Higher Education (CSHE) at UC Berkeley, research associate at the Department of...

Ding-Jo Currie, Ph.D.

Distinguished Faculty, Higher Education Leadership California State University, Fullerton, Fullerton, California; Former Chancellor, Coast Community College District – Costa Mesa, California

Dr. Ding-Jo H. Currie’s career includes 30-plus years in the California Community College system with eight additional years in the California State University system. Ding-Jo retired in 2011 from Coast Community College District where she served as Chancellor. She also served as President of Coastline Community College prior to her Chancellor role. Currently, Ding-Jo is serving as Distinguished Faculty at CSU Fullerton and devotes herself in full-time leadership development work.

Having served in many key national leadership roles such as, Board Chair of...