Brian Whalen

Brian Whalen is Chief Academic Officer and Dean of Education at Atlantis, a leading healthcare education organization. He serves in the same role for both the Beacon Fellowship and the Lex Fellowship. Brian is also a Director and Advisory Partner at Academic Assembly, Inc., a Dean’s Fellow at Dickinson College, and an International Education Leadership Fellow at the University at Albany.  Among the most well-known and influential international education leaders currently working in the field, Brian served for more than a decade (2006-2018) as the President and CEO of The Forum on Education Abroad, the first Standards Development Organization (SDO) worldwide focused on international education. During that time, he oversaw The Forum’s growth into a leading international association, and formidable quality assurance organization for the field of education abroad. He is also an experienced senior international academic officer, having served in that role at Dickinson College and Marist College. A widely published scholar, Brian was founding editor and publisher of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad. During his long career, Brian has developed or overseen education abroad programs in more than 50 countries, has delivered dozens of presentations and trainings in the U.S. and many other countries, has collaborated to secure nearly $4 million in grants in support of international education initiatives, and has participated in high-level meetings as a discussant at the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Education, and the White House. Brian has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in literature, psychology, and comparative and international education at several colleges and universities including, Boston University, Lesley University, Brookhaven Community College, and Dickinson College.  Brian has an interdisciplinary doctorate from the University of Dallas in Psychology and Literature.