Alumna Sonja Lind Named Director of Education Abroad at Cal State University, San Bernardino

Alumna Sonja Lind (Ph.D. '14), was named Director of Education Abroad at California State University, San Bernardino. In her new position, Dr. Lind will be promoting comprehensive internationalization and global engagement. As a supporter of Californian higher education, Lind is a proud UC and CSU graduate and employee.

Lind brings a wealth of international experience to her new position. She is a Canadian/Norwegian dual citizen who has lived in Kenya, England, and South Korea and traveled to 47 different countries.

For the past two and a half years, she has served as the Education Abroad Coordinator in the College of Professional and Global Education at California State University, Los Angeles. During her tenure, she accelerated exchange applications by an 80% increase and scholarship applications by <250% increase.
 
Prior to her work at CSULA, Lind served as the Coordinator of Changing Global Society at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas. In this position, she pioneered the university's first centralized study abroad program, doubled study abroad applications among students in two years, led a one-month study abroad group to Florence, Italy, and coordinated cultural campus events such as Diwali, Korean New Year, and Día de los Muertos with 30% of all students attending at least one event. 

Lind received her Ph.D. in Education from UCI in 2014, specialized in Language, Literacy, & Technology. For her dissertation, Cultures of Support: A Case Study of International Undergraduate Students and International Center Staff Members, she conducted qualitative interviews and focus groups with 15 Southeast and East Asian undergraduate students and produced the university’s first and only dissertation on identifying and supporting the needs of international undergraduate students. 

In looking forward to her new position in San Bernardino, Lind comments, "This is a continuation of my goal of helping underrepresented university students achieve their dream of studying in another country, affordably. For me, that's the meaning of life.”