Forum Storytellers

Mickey Slind became an “accidental” study abroad professional when after raising a family she took a job in the Registrar’s Office at Hamline University in 1981. Prior to this she had never studied abroad and did not even own a passport.

Her long and productive career helping and mentoring study abroad advisers is something she is most proud of. Mickey was always on the cutting edge of the field—one of the first to champion short term programming and a pioneer in the quest for women’s equality in what was then a field dominated by males in campus leadership positions (“it is changing for the better now,” she said). Mickey also had a leadership role in creating workshops for underrepresented students including introducing programming for the LGBT community and, in 1992, served on the original NAFSA committee to integrate health and safety into study abroad professional development.

While Mickey officially retired twelve years ago she remains active as a consultant and leader imparting her wisdom, experience and expertise to a new generation of students, advisers and field representatives.

She is truly a dream merchant and a shining star in our field.

Founding member of the Forum Council and plenary speaker at The Forum’s 2013 Annual Conference, Lilli Engle is a leading advocate for high-quality education abroad who has emerged as one of the most influential voices in the field today. In this thought-inspiring interview, she discusses how her own early experiences abroad helped shape her understanding of the potential value of cross-cultural education, and the changes she has witnessed in U.S. higher education and education abroad during her career as a committed, principled educator.

In August of 2015, the education abroad field lost one of its greatest advocates.

Joe Brockington, recipient of The Forum’s 2016 Peter A. Wollitzer Advocacy Award, served the field of education abroad for over 20 years.

In March of 2015, Joe was interviewed by Margaret Wiedenhoeft, his friend and colleague at Kalamazoo College.

Joe and Margaret generously agreed to donate this video interview to The Forum. We are pleased to share it with you today as part of The Forum Storytellers project.

A long summer's adventure traveling in Europe after college led Bill Gertz to a career in education abroad. He has brought his passions for travel and writing together over the years to promote the value of education abroad beginning with his work at CIEE in 1976 and continuing to the present at AIFS where he is President and CEO. He points out that over the years, most of the issues in our field remain the same, but the people and approaches change. He challenges the listener to remain true to our ultimate goal of achieving world peace through international travel and education abroad, and reminds us all that we must continue the journey together to expand opportunities for all students. Bill is interviewed by his friend and former colleague, Mickey Slind, at The Forum's 12th Annual Conference in Atlanta.