John Luria Photo: Courtesy of John Luria
John Luria, an experienced student services administrator of international study programs, has been selected as the first director of Princeton's new Bridge Year Program.
The program, which will launch in fall 2009 with a pilot group of approximately 20 students, will allow those who have accepted an offer of admission to Princeton to pursue a tuition-free, enrichment year focused on public service outside their home country prior to their freshman year.
Luria, whose appointment is effective Dec. 1, has been director of student services at the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) Study Center in Seville, Spain, since 2002. He is responsible for the development, management and assessment of non-academic support services for all CIEE study programs in Seville, including orientation and re-entry, housing, extracurricular activities, and health and safety. He also works with other administrators to develop and maintain a learning environment that promotes engagement in local society and fosters the intellectual, cultural and personal development of the center's college and pre-college program participants.
Princeton's Bridge Year Program ultimately is intended to accommodate 100 students each year. The University will cover the majority of the costs and will provide financial aid based on need for those who cannot afford the incidental costs that families will be asked to pay.
Working with a range of University offices, Luria will take the lead in making all arrangements for the program, from identifying appropriate partner organizations, sites and service placements for students to establishing the calendar and mechanisms for the application and selection processes.
"John Luria comes to Princeton with extensive experience in international program management and student services," said Nancy Malkiel, dean of the college, to whom Luria will report. "He has a strong theoretical grounding in international education and intercultural development, and he has worked both with international students in a university setting in the United States and with American students abroad.
"This work has given him important insights into a range of issues in student development in an international educational context," she continued. "Directing student services abroad for a program provider, he is keenly aware of the need to place students in a safe, healthy and supportive environment, and he will be able to evaluate potential partner organizations with a sharp, critical eye. We are confident that he will create a program that will enable bridge year participants to have rich, transformative experiences abroad, and that he will then help them build on that experience during their four years in college. We look forward very much to his leadership in launching this exciting new program."
Before joining the CIEE staff, Luria spent 10 years managing international student services at Georgetown University. He was international student adviser and program coordinator from 1992 to 1995 and associate director of international student services from 1995 to 2002. In the latter capacity, he developed and managed support services, including immigration services, extracurricular activities, new student orientation and advising, for some 1,400 international students at Georgetown.
Luria worked previously for AFS Intercultural Programs as an orientation logistics coordinator and summer program coordinator. He holds a B.S. from Miami University of Ohio and an M.A. in Latin American studies from Georgetown's School of Foreign Service.
Following his high school graduation, Luria participated in a 12-month high-school AFS home-stay program at the Lycée Polyvalent Mixte de Luçon in France. As a graduate student, he also studied in Quito, Ecuador.
