A Heart Deep in the Field
“I love working in the university environment,” says Sokha Om, an English teacher and staff member in the studies office at Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) in Cambodia. “My heart is deep in this field, and I understand how tertiary institutions play vital roles in shaping the nation’s human resources.”
Scholar and Fellow Profiles
Learn more about the educators who have participated in our programs.
Iwan Sandjaja, Petra Christian University
Sharing Hospitality and Thankfulness
Iwan Njoto Sandjaja, an Indonesian PhD candidate in electrical and computer engineering, adds his voice to the big Texas welcome that greets United Board Fellows arriving for placements at Baylor University. It’s his way of expressing thanks for the opportunity to earn his master’s degree at De La Salle University in the Philippines with the support of the United Board Faculty Scholarship Program.
Bernadine Joseph, Stella Maris College
Observing Leadership in Action
In 2003, soon after she completed her placement as a United Board Fellow at Valparaiso University in the United States, Bernadine Joseph wrote that “new life experiences that will direct my career and life paths have taken shape.” Today, more than a decade later, she is applying her United Board Fellow experiences and leadership lessons to her role as vice principal of Stella Maris College, a Catholic women’s college in Chennai, India.
Lathaw Doi Ra, Kachin Theological College and Seminary
A Teacher and a Student
A theologian by training, Lathaw Doi Ra is now earning a master of education degree, with a concentration in English language teaching. Her course of study is an opportunity to bring fresh ideas to her home institution, Kachin Theological College and Seminary (KTCS) in Myanmar, where she is the assistant head of the English department.
Tim Chen, Soochow University
Learning alongside Neighbors
At first, Tim Chen was disappointed when he learned his second placement as a 2008-2010 United Board Fellow would be at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. He had hoped to spend four months at an Australian university. But Anne Ofstedal, then the United Board’s director of fellowship and scholarship programs told him, “Trust me, you will like Ateneo” – and he did.
Sister Ella Naben, Soegijapranata Catholic University
The Heart and Ears to Listen
Sister Ella Naben was one of five individuals who participated in the 2015 Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute (MPI) with the support of the United Board. MPI’s summer training program brings together peacebuilders from diverse cultures and professional experiences, who want to serve as catalysts for peace and social transformation.
Raja Vedamariasusai, University of Madras
An Open Sharing of Ideas
United Board Program Officer Kevin Henderson resided with the 16 IASACT scholars in the summer of 2015, enabling him to pursue both his staff assignments and his own research interests in service-learning in Southeast Asia. He reflects on his interaction with Raja Vedamariasusai and other IASACT scholars.
Hanh Nguyen, An Giang University
The Search for Creative Solutions
Hanh Nguyen reaches a simple conclusion when he reflects on his postgraduate studies at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. “My time in Ateneo changed me,” he says. “It developed my leadership ability and the ability to search for solutions in difficult circumstances.”
Jema Pamintuan, Ateneo de Manila University
A Creative Learning Environment
After Jema Pamintuan’s placement at Georgetown University, she wrote she was eager “to further push myself in helping our department design new courses and teaching tools, and foster a creative and critically engaging learning environment within and outside the classroom.” Now Ateneo de Manila has offered her an opportunity to put those goals into practice: it named her executive director of the Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings, an archival facility that promotes writing by and about Filipino women among contemporary readers.