Leadership

Satyajit Dattagupta

Chief Enrollment Officer, Special Advisor to the President, Senior Vice Chancellor

Satyajit Dattagupta began his tenure as chief enrollment officer, senior vice chancellor, and special advisor to the president in June of 2022. He leads the university’s diverse global recruitment and enrollment efforts into a new era for higher education.

He joined Northeastern after serving as senior vice president and dean of admissions at Tulane University in New Orleans. In Dattagupta’s six years at Tulane, he built the most diverse and strongest academic classes in the university’s history. Between 2008 and 2016, Dattagupta worked at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana; University of Rochester in Rochester, New York; and Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. At each institution, he helped create recruitment, enrollment, and admissions practices that focused on students’ needs.

He now leads the strategy and execution of recruitment, enrollment, and retention for all learners at Northeastern. He oversees departments responsible for student recruitment, pricing and financial aid, admissions, and enrollment marketing and communications, working closely with university colleagues to identify opportunities to support the university’s long-term enrollment growth, innovation agenda, and sustainability.

Bradly Booke

Assistant Vice Chancellor of Enrollment

Brad Booke joined Northeastern in June of 2022. He serves as the chief of staff and oversees graduate enrollment. He has more than 18 years of experience in higher education and post-secondary advocacy work. As a first-generation college student, Brad has spent his career supporting like-minded learners. He began his career as an outreach coordinator in the Office of Admissions at the University of Rochester. He has supported various roles in enrollment management over his career and most recently joined Northeastern after having served as the associate vice president of admissions at Tulane University. Brad holds a bachelor’s in religious studies from the University of Rochester and a master’s in social service administration from the University of Chicago.

Jenn Christ

Director of the Office of Global Services

Jenn Christ joined Northeastern in December 2021 and currently serves as the director of the Office of Global Services, where she oversees the comprehensive advising efforts for Northeastern University’s international student population. Jenn previously worked at Colorado State University, serving international students in various capacities, including international student housing, international admissions, and international program and services development. Later, Jenn provided direction and oversight to international student affairs, international student academic success support, and immigration advising at Hofstra University.

Jenn earned a bachelor’s in media communication from Webster University and a master’s in student affairs in higher education from Colorado State University. She has extensive intercultural training through the Summer Institute of Intercultural Communication. After studying abroad in Vienna, Austria, and living in Germany for five years, Jenn is fluent in German and earned the telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule certificate.

Ebony Clinton Brown

Dean of Undergraduate Admissions

Ebony Clinton Brown currently serves as dean of undergraduate admissions. With more than 15 years of experience at Northeastern, Ebony has designed and implemented recruitment and enrollment strategies that have helped lead the university to its unprecedented success. Ebony is responsible for international and domestic university recruitment and strategic initiatives, and her deep knowledge of enrollment has helped advance undergraduate representation at the university. She has worked to establish formal university partnerships with college access organizations nationwide and helped architect Northeastern’s 10-year Institutional Master Plan, creating increased enrollment and scholarship opportunities for Boston residents. Ebony serves on the Presidential Council on Diversity and Inclusion, working to support the university’s leadership in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Brian Clinton

Assistant Vice President, Enrollment Management

Brian Clinton, EdD, joined Northeastern University in 2000 and has worked in various roles within Enrollment Management and the College of Professional Studies during his tenure. In his current role, Brian directly oversees several departments, including the Enrollment Management Contact Center, Accelerate Pre-college Programs, and the Enrollment Counseling team, which is focused on assisting prospective graduate and bachelor’s completion students through the enrollment process. Brian has extensive enrollment management experience working with both undergraduate and graduate populations and serves as a key advisor to the EM leadership team on a number of strategic initiatives.

Brian earned a BS in Political Science from Stonehill College, an MA in Higher Education Administration from Boston College, and an EdD from Northeastern University. His primary research interest during his doctoral program focused on better understanding college student retention models and programs for low-income, urban students.

Christina Ford

Special Assistant to the Chief Enrollment Officer

Christina Ford joined Northeastern University in June 2022 as the special assistant to Chief Enrollment Officer Satyajit Dattagupta. In this role, she provides special project support to the Chief Enrollment Management Office as well as the broader Enrollment Management division. Christina joined Northeastern with six years of experience in higher education administration at Portland State University and Berklee College of Music, serving nontraditional and first-generation student populations. She holds a BS in Political Science from Portland State University and is completing her MS in Project Management at Northeastern University.

Marie Gavaud

Executive Assistant to the Chief Enrollment Management Officer

Marie Gavaud joined Northeastern in June of 2022 and currently serves as the executive assistant to Chief Enrollment Officer Satyajit Dattagupta and Assistant Vice Chancellor Bradly Booke. She brings more than 20 years of administrative experience with expertise in management and correspondence. After graduating from Boston University with her bachelor’s degree, she began her career as an administrative assistant at a property management firm in Boston, MA. She has since earned a master’s degree in management from Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy, MA. She has expanded her field of knowledge, working at several institutions in various roles to hone her administrative and managerial skills. Prior to Northeastern, Marie was a portfolio property manager with Harvest Properties in Melrose, MA.

Stephan Jordan

Deputy Chief of Staff | Executive Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Stephan Jordan joined Northeastern University in June 2022 as the deputy chief of staff to the chief enrollment officer and executive director for diversity, equity, and inclusion. In these roles, Stephan provides high-level support to the Enrollment Management division and ensures that it remains committed to our core values as an institution, creating a richly diverse, powerful learning community for all our students. 

Stephan joined Northeastern after spending several years in Washington, DC, working for a boutique consulting firm that partnered closely with the White House and various Administration departments to support minority small business owners and entrepreneurs as the nation navigated the economic response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to that, Stephan worked closely with Vice President Kamala Harris as a member of the finance team during her presidential campaign and supported efforts to further trade and prosperity between the United States and the United Kingdom while working on behalf of His Majesty’s Government at the British Embassy. Stephan also has experience working in undergraduate admissions after spending several years working for his alma mater, Washington College, where he earned his BA in political science.

Federico Ling

Assistant Vice Chancellor, International Enrollment Management

Federico Ling leads Northeastern University’s international efforts to offer professional development programs and training opportunities for students and learners around the world. As assistant vice chancellor for International Enrollment Management, he is responsible for formulating promotion and recruitment strategies and leading the team to build strong partnerships worldwide.

Federico is a political and international expert with several years of experience developing strategic alliances with foreign partners, including universities, governments, foundations, corporate entities, and non-governmental institutions. He previously served as the director of political analysis for the president of Mexico, an advisor to the secretary of state in Mexico, and chief of staff of the Foreign Affairs Committee within the Mexican House of Representatives.

Federico holds a MA in Political Analysis and Information Media from Tecnológico de Monterrey and a BA in Political Science and Public Administration from Universidad Iberoamericana. He is also an alumnus of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitors Leadership Program and continues to serve as a national op-ed columnist for various newspapers in Mexico. Federico is originally from Mexico and has previously lived in Italy. He currently resides in Washington, D.C.

Marina Macomber

Assistant Vice President, Strategic Enrollment Initiatives

Marina Macomber has more than 30 years of experience in higher education administration and joined Northeastern University in 1997. In her current role, Marina leads a team of technical specialists focused on advancing a sustainable, collaborative, and accountable “best-in-breed” technology model for Enrollment Management that supports program needs and enhances the learner’s experience.

Before joining the Enrollment Management team, Marina spent many years as the assistant vice president for student and administrative services, overseeing many student services areas, including student affairs technology and the campus “one card,” student housing on campus and across the country, residential security, summer conference programs, and external events.

Prior to joining Northeastern, Marina worked in student affairs at Bentley University, Boston College, and Regis College. Marina received her BS in Business from Merrimack College in North Andover, her MBA from Bentley University in Waltham, and her MEd in Higher Education Administration from Boston College in Chestnut Hill.

Thomas McWhorter

Dean of Student Financial Services

Thomas T. McWhorter joined Northeastern University as the dean of Student Financial Services in December 2022. He oversees the offices of student financial aid, student accounts, student employment, graduate assistantships and fellowships, and veterans’ services. He is responsible for leading and managing all aspects of the functional operations of these areas, including the application and awarding processes for institutional, federal, state, and private aid; all student and third-party billing and payment collection activities; facilitating various work-study programs; ensuring compliance with institutional, federal, and state policies and regulations; and delivering student and parent financial counseling services.

As a member of the leadership team in the Office of the Chief Enrollment Management Officer, Thomas plays a key role in developing institutional financial and operational strategies in partnership with other enrollment management leaders.

Prior to joining Northeastern, Thomas worked at the University of Southern California (USC) for 37 years, serving for many years as the associate dean of finance and administration, responsible for budget, human resources, technology, and facilities in the Enrollment Services division, and as the dean of financial aid since 2010.

Frederic Ndiaye

Interim Assistant Vice President, EM Analytics and Research

Frederic Ndiaye joined Northeastern University in April 2022. He is the head of enrollment at the Roux Institute at Northeastern University, where he leads and oversees the recruitment, financial aid, and enrollment units. Frederic is also the interim assistant vice president for Enrollment Research and Analytics. Frederic has eighteen years of experience in higher education.

Before joining the Roux Institute, he served as the executive director of student support services at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide. He oversaw the registrar, veterans’ affairs, dual enrollment, and scheduling departments. He also served as the executive director of enrollment management at Embry-Riddle Worldwide for seven years.

Frederic has a Master of Science in Management and a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Michael O’Connor

Assistant Vice President, Enrollment Marketing & Digital Strategy

In his role, Mike O’Connor oversees enrollment marketing and digital strategy for the 200+ graduate programs offered at Northeastern, along with creative assets development for the entire enrollment marketing portfolio.

Mike has most recently served as the director of strategic communications and marketing for St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he managed an in-house communications and marketing team. Before joining the leadership team at St. John’s College, Mike provided marketing and communications services to Tulane University for their pre-college program and undergraduate enrollment teams.

He started his higher education career at Washington College in Maryland as associate vice president for college relations and marketing. Before moving into higher education, Mike worked in public relations and healthcare marketing for Lenox Hill Hospital and Northwell Health in New York City.

Martin Smith

Assistant Vice President, Global Campus Strategy, Recruitment and Marketing

Martin Smith is responsible for the recruitment and marketing function across much of Northeastern University’s campus network, including Arlington, Virginia; Charlotte, North Carolina; London; San Francisco; Seattle; Silicon Valley; Toronto; and Vancouver. In addition to his recruitment and marketing responsibilities, Martin is a member of London’s Executive Committee, where he also oversees London’s visa and admissions work.

Martin gained extensive experience in student recruitment and marketing at the University of Law, including the development of the international recruitment department and the agent network. Before this, he was an associate professor in law at the University of Law and taught at the University of Kent and the University of Reading. He was previously a qualified lawyer working at Dentons in London, specializing in commercial law and EU and U.K. competition law. He holds LLB and LLM degrees.

Dhiren Balasaria 

Systems and Operations Portfolio Manager

Dhiren Balasaria joined Northeastern University in December 2020 and started as a project manager on the Strategic Enrollment Initiatives team. In his current role, he serves as systems and operations portfolio manager. He is responsible for providing a variety of program and portfolio support, including process management, research, and financial and business analysis. He has also worked in and supported different roles at Northeastern, where he managed several Enrollment Management operations projects and the implementation of global campus systems infrastructure to improve the overall enrollment experience. 

Before joining Northeastern University (and coming to the USA), he worked as an SAP consultant for a leading IT firm in India. Dhiren got his B. Tech degree in Civil Engineering from SRM University, India. He is also a NU alum, having earned his master’s degree in project management from Northeastern University in Boston.

Missy Burke

Director of Quality Assurance

Missy Burke brings more than ten years of experience in various higher education divisions to her role as Director of Quality Assurance. Holding an MFA in graphic design and an MBA, she balances creativity with a passion for logic and stability. 

At Northeastern, she’s committed to building sustainable process flows that successfully execute outlined strategies. She uses her knowledge of identifying inefficiencies based on Lean/Six Sigma principles to enhance Enrollment Management functions within the areas of admission decisions, communications, foreign credential evaluation, and more.

Amy Charette

Senior Director of the Enrollment Management Contact Center

Amy Charette joined Northeastern University in October 2010 and currently serves as the Senior Director of the Enrollment Management Contact Center, supporting inbound phone calls for Office of Global Services, Student Financial Services and Undergraduate Admissions. Working collaboratively with these university offices, Amy and her team strive to provide excellent customer service to the Northeastern community in each interaction. Amy earned her bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management from Bridgewater State University and master’s degree in Leadership from Northeastern University. 

Tracy Gardella

Senior Director, College Success

A strategic and highly creative marketing, branding, and enrollment veteran of 32+ years, Tracy Gardella began her career in Cincinnati, OH, planning and buying media for national clients such as Lenscrafters and Roto-Rooter. She went on to lead media efforts for a local ad agency and then became a top sales account executive for two different radio stations. Eventually, she moved to the client side, managing marketing and branding efforts for a hotel and convention center, Fifth Third Bank, the University of Dayton, and her alma mater, Miami University-Ohio, before returning to the agency side at 160over90. 

While at Miami University, Tracy led all branding and agency efforts, video production, photography, web design, and print production. She also served on the Performing Arts Series advisory board for three years, culminating in a term as president. And she currently serves on the national advisory board for Miami’s College of Creative Arts. 

At 160over90, Tracy oversaw all Florida office operations as managing director, where she led work for higher ed clients such as the University of Florida, Old Dominion University, Florida International University, Fordham University, Furman University, and DePauw University, along with consumer accounts like Outback Steakhouse, Aussie Grill, ChenMed, IMG Academy, and others.  

Tracy joined Northeastern University in June 2020 and soon after was asked to create the College Success team, which she oversees along with the EM Project Management team.

Jeffrey Hengel

Senior Director of Graduate and Professional Admissions

Jeffrey E. Hengel has been with Northeastern University since December of 2010, and currently serves as the Senior Director of Graduate and Professional Admissions in the Enrollment Management division. As such, Jeff leads and manages a team of professional and support staff that facilitates the application process for prospective graduate and professional program students. Jeff holds a master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs from The Ohio State University, and has worked as an administrator and advisor for over 20 years at five institutions of higher education in three states. 

Kris Knight

Creative Director

Kris Knight oversees the Creative Team, which includes talented leaders and makers across content, design, and multimedia areas. She brings more than 20 years of experience in the higher education and nonprofit space, having contributed her leadership and creative acumen to the University of San Francisco, Ithaca College, and National Geographic. Her collaborative efforts have been fortunate to receive recognition throughout her career. 

Kris’ leadership approach is driven by a desire to cultivate happy and healthy creative environments, allowing team members to flourish and produce exceptional work. Prioritizing the values and mission of the institution, Kris believes that the true mark of success lies in aligning creative endeavors with organizational goals, authenticity, and brand integrity.

Mallory Leiendecker

Director, Student Enrollment

Mallory Leiendecker joined Northeastern University in 2015 as an admissions operations coordinator. Previously at Northeastern, she worked in admissions operations and academic advising within the College of Professional Studies. In her current role leading the Enrollment Counseling group, Mallory and her team work with prospective graduate and bachelor’s completion students, helping them reach their goal of becoming Huskies. Supporting programs across the university, Mallory and the enrollment counselors are resources and guides through the admissions and enrollment process for thousands of students each year.

Prior to working at Northeastern, she worked in business development for a publishing business in New York City. Mallory earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Providence College and her master’s degree in leadership from Northeastern University.

Warren Lord

Senior Director, Systems, Data, and Technology

Warren Lord joined Northeastern University in 2013 and currently oversees marketing operations, web administration, and student financial services systems groups within Enrollment Management. Prior to joining Enrollment Management, he led the student affairs technology group, where he managed a project to implement over 8,000 online locks throughout Northeastern University. 

Warren has more than 25 years of experience at higher education institutions in technology leadership roles. Prior to joining Northeastern, he served as the director of academic and student information systems at Seton Hall University, where he was responsible for all student-related systems. He has managed many enterprise systems implementations, including three Banner implementations throughout his career. 

Warren received a BS in Systems Engineering from Loughborough University of Technology in the United Kingdom, an MS in Computer Science from Bowling Green State University, a post-master’s Certificate in Enrollment Management from Noel Levitz/Capella University, and EdD in Higher Education from Seton Hall University.

Erin McManus

Director of Enrollment Compliance and Operations

As the director of enrollment compliance and operations, Erin McManus is responsible for leadership and end-to-end execution of the enrollment agreements process pertaining to the authorization of Northeastern’s delivery of higher education across its global network of campuses. Erin is also responsible for operational and program support for vendor contracts and invoice management for enrollment management systems. 

Erin joined Northeastern in 2020, where she worked in Information Technology Services (ITS) as an IT program manager. Her primary responsibilities included managing the Slate graduate and undergraduate admissions system implementations and the Global Campus System (GCS) initiative. 

Erin brings more than 30 years of leadership, business operations, and information technology experience to Northeastern. Before joining Northeastern, Erin worked as director of technical program management at John Hancock and as vice president at State Street Corporation in its information technology division.

Erin received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts and a Graduate Certificate in Information Security Management from Northeastern University. She also holds PMP®, ITIL®, SFC, PSM™, SAFe, ICP-BVA, ICP-FDO, and OCEM professional certifications.

Avnish Patel

Senior Director of Enrollment Management and Marketing 

Avnish Patel is the Senior Director of Enrollment Management and Marketing, where he oversees the development, implementation, and deployment of domestic enrollment strategies through marketing and recruitment across Northeastern’s Global Campus Network. He also works closely with other functions within the institution to enhance enrollment throughout the network, including international enrollment management (IEM), graduate admissions, customer experience, enrollment management automation and systems, and central marketing and communications. He joined Northeastern University in April 2019.

Before joining Northeastern University, Avnish served as the Marketing and Digital Officer for Ryerson University’s DMZ start-up incubator and accelerator in Toronto, Ontario, and has more than seven years of experience in enrollment and sales operations within the academic, banking, and men’s apparel industries. Avnish got his BBA Marketing from Ryerson University, Canada, and an honours advanced diploma in Business Administration and Marketing from Sheridan College, Canada.

Allison Peña 

Senior Director of International Enrollment Management  

Allison Peña joined Northeastern in March of 2023 and serves as the senior director of International Enrollment Management. She has more than 10 years of international student recruitment experience at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. She brings varied experience across many aspects of the recruitment funnel, including admissions, enrollment operations, marketing, international student services, visa compliance, and strategic partnership management.  

Allison earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology and Spanish from the University of Vermont and an MA in Spanish from Middlebury College. She has lived abroad in both Spain and Mexico.

Kate Pitman

Director of Digital Marketing, Enrollment Management

Kate Pitman joined Northeastern University in August 2021 and oversees the domestic marketing efforts for more than 200 graduate programs offered at Northeastern. Kate and her team manage multiple initiatives to support all aspects of the digital marketing funnel, including customer segmentation and audience analysis, media strategies and channel plans, testing and measurement, and campaign execution and analysis. She leads digital channel strategies through full-funnel marketing campaigns tailored to custom audiences’ needs and expectations. Her work supports a multi-channel vision that ensures audience engagement throughout the prospective student journey via email, events, search, social, display, video, audio, outdoor and more. 

Prior to joining the Enrollment Management team, Kate worked in media planning and strategy on both the media advertising agency and client sides, managing teams and leading multiple brands and categories on marketing strategy and media channel solutions for more than 20 years.

Jeff Portu

Director, Business Process Innovation for Enrollment Systems

Jeff Portu joined Northeastern University in September 2012 and currently leads the development and implementation of admissions systems across the university. He leads a team of Slate specialists and admissions systems developers that work with stakeholders across the university to maintain and enhance enrollment processes for all programs across the university’s global campus network. Previously, he worked in Northeastern’s Undergraduate Admissions office, supporting the back-end operations and quality control of the admission process. He has been an active member and served on the governing board of the New England Association for College Admission Counseling. Jeff earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Boston College and a master’s degree in project management from Northeastern University.

Liz Quinn

Director of Accelerate Pre-College Programs

Liz Quinn has worked with Northeastern’s Accelerate Pre-College Programs since 2017 and has been with the university since 2008, having previously worked in international program development and management. Liz holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester and a master’s degree in higher education administration from Northeastern University. Since joining Enrollment Management, Liz has greatly enjoyed her time working with faculty in Northeastern’s various undergraduate colleges to design programs that bring dynamic, hands-on experiences to pre-college students.

Kevin Schultz

Technical Product Manager – CDP & Service Now

Kevin Schultz is a marketing and technology platform expert. He has previously led digital consulting and advisory functions for various marketing organizations. His areas of focus have included website redesigns, digital rebranding efforts, interactive brand experiences, marketing automation, paid media management, and attribution modeling. 

As an IT partner, Kevin has previously led transformation projects, including comprehensive ERP implementations and functionally specific platforms for call centers, financial operations, and customer acquisition and retention. Many of his efforts have focused on customer-facing platforms and methods of optimizing business processes and strategies using technology to reduce customer friction and increase satisfaction. 

At Northeastern, Kevin works to unify customer experience and foster strong technology partnerships across the enterprise to enhance student-facing customer service operations. Kevin holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s in business administration from the University of Dayton.

Dinesh Surajiwale

Director, Salesforce Development & Architecture

Dinesh Surajiwale joined Northeastern University in 2017. He leads a team of Salesforce developers that develop and manage Salesforce operations for Enrollment Management, including the processing of graduate application data, enrollment agreements, lead management, and case management for applicants. 

Before joining Northeastern, Dinesh gained 15+ years of experience in CRM applications and Enterprise Data Integration with companies such as Dell Consulting, Monster.com, Siebel, and Oracle.

Amy Vecchione

Director, Admissions Communications

Amy Vecchione joined Northeastern University in 2019, focusing on marketing efforts for the Undergraduate Admissions marketing and communications team. At Northeastern, she has implemented unique marketing strategies for prospective students and families across various digital and print communications efforts. Since moving into her leadership role in 2021, she has led the admissions communications team in developing new marketing and communications strategies to enhance Northeastern’s outreach for all undergraduate campuses and first-year enrollment pathways.  

Amy began working in admissions in 2010, following her graduation from Quinnipiac University with a BA in Psychology. She worked in admissions and recruitment for five years before transitioning to a higher ed marketing agency, where she worked as the strategic marketing and communications lead for an array of colleges and universities.