CHAIR EUASA

Ignacio Messana is the program director for Florida State University campus in Valencia, Spain and has held this position ever since 2000. Messana has an extensive background in Business Administration and Entrepreneurship. He first obtained his Master´s degree from the University of Valencia in Economics and Business Administration and later went on to complete a PhD in Business Administration and Management with a focus in Entrepreneurship from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Messana is also a Consultant for Spanish and American companies advising in topics such as marketing, international commercial transactions, and public and political relations. Messana co-authored the book “A History of Valencia”, amongst other scholarly articles. He is also a professor of Business Communication and other business courses taught at Florida State University inspiring the next generation of managers, administrators and planners.

DEPUTY CHAIR

Fabrizio Ricciardelli was appointed Director of the Kent State University Florence Center in 2012 after serving in leadership and teaching roles at Georgetown University at Villa Le Balze. Ricciardelli joined Georgetown University in 2004 and served for six years as Professor of History. Between 2010-2012 he was also selected as Academic Director and in 2010 he became the chairman of the scientific committee “Villa Le Balze Studies”. After serving as Co-Secretary Treasurer, in 2021 Ricciardelli was elected President of AACUPI, the Association of American College and University Programs in Italy. His main field of study in which he has many publications is the Italian city-states in the social, economic, political, and cultural landscape of Medieval Europe. A native of Florence, Fabrizio Ricciardelli earned his undergraduate degree in Medieval History at the University of Florence and his Ph.D. at the University of Warwick in England.

SECRETARY

Kelly Bohan is the Program Coordinator at the Brown University program in Paris after five years with the Middlebury College School in France. Kelly was born and raised in the US where she earned her B.A.s from the University of Missouri. She worked as a teaching assistant in Le Mans, France for two years before pursuing an M.A in International Education Management at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and working as the activity coordinator and teaching assistant for the MIIS French Summer Intensive Language Program.

TREASURER

Brooke Berndtson works in Student Success at Parsons Paris, where she supports students across a range of areas including well-being, crisis response, and disability services. 

She holds a Master of Studies in Philosophy from the University of Oxford, a Master of Science in Mental Health in Children and Young People from the University of Edinburgh, and an Advanced Certificate in Disability Services in Higher Education from CUNY School of Professional Studies. Brooke is a dedicated advocate for disability access and mental health support in higher education and is especially interested in inclusive practices and policy development within international learning environments.

BOARD MEMBER

Kim Griffin received her undergraduate degree in Secondary Education-Spanish from SUNY Oswego and her M.A. in Spanish at Middlebury College in Spain.  That began a thirty year relationship with Middlebury as Assistant Director, Professor and then, after receiving a Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education from The Ohio State University, as Director of the program in Spain.  Griffin has directed language departments, translation and applied linguistics degree programs, as well as international programs at the Universidad Europea de Madrid and the Universidad Europea del Atlántico.  She won a research fellowship with the University of Cantabria in conjunction with the newly created Comillas Foundation in Cantabria, Spain. During this time she established and directed a study abroad program for high school students through the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academies. She now returns to Middlebury after a stint of eight years directing the Programa de Estudios Hispánicos en Córdoba (PRESHCO). Griffin lectures and publishes scholarly articles on study abroad and second language adquisition.

LEGAL CONSULTANT

Gian Franco Borio is an attorney at law and former CPA, Legal Counsel to the Association of American College and University Programs in Italy and to the European Association of Study Abroad (EUASA). He graduated with cum laude at the Law School of the Università degli Studi di Firenze (Florence), continued his graduate studies at SAIS of Johns Hopkins University in D.C., at the London City Poly, in Germany and in France. He served as Technical Counsel at the Italian Federation of EUCPAs (FEE) to the European Commission on Corporate Law, Tax Law, SMEs. He is a member of the Florence Bar, professional association of lawyers in Italy.