People

Michael Ulrich, Ph.D
Associate Director for International Education Services

Michael has directed the study abroad office since August, 2003 and taught a study abroad course on HIV/AIDS for the University of Maryland on 4 occasions. Prior to this appointment, he was Assistant Director in Letters and Sciences and served as the Coordinator for Preprofessional Programs and as Premedical Advisor. Michael first encountered study abroad programs at Elon University where he led a group of students to London in addition to serving as Department Chair and Assistant Professor of Biology. His academic training includes a B.A. in Biology and a Chemistry minor from the University of Iowa where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. His doctoral training in Molecular Genetics was completed at Washington University. Michael's international experience includes service learning trips to Mexico, El Salvador and Jamaica as well as extensive travel and teaching in Western Europe, especially London, Paris and Amsterdam. In his free time, Michael can be found at the beach, on a dance floor or throwing a party. His favorite author is John Irving, he loves each of his five nieces and nephews equally but differently and would rather die than be bored.

Pernille Levine
Coordinator

Pernille, a native of Denmark, began working at the Office of International Programs in 1997. Over the years, she has been associated with the Institute for Global Chinese Affairs (IGCA), the Fulbright Program, the Korea Committee and the International Film Series Committee. In May 2005, she began working for the Study Abroad Office as a coordinator. Prior to coming to the United States, Pernille worked as a film translator and language instructor. She received her BA in English from the University of Copenhagen and will have an MA in English and Danish when her thesis is completed. Pernille is fluent in Danish and Swedish, and she speaks German well. Her fascination with foreign cultures has taken her to China, Turkey, Costa Rica, Hungary and many other countries in Europe, including the UK, where she spent a year in London. Her favorite authors include Bill Bryson and David Sedaris.

Aggie Danielewicz, Ph.D
Coordinator for Short Term Programs

Aggie is a true cosmopolitan. Aggie is short for Agnieszka, who was born and lived in Poland until she was 16 years old. She moved with her family to Denmark, where she lived for the following 20 years (wannabe Dane), interrupted by study abroad and graduate school in the US. By education, Aggie is a molecular biologist with degrees from the University of Aarhus, Denmark and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. After her post-doc with the Danish Cancer Society, Aggie decided that her international addiction was taking over and thus entered the world of study abroad. From 2003 Aggie worked for the Denmark's International Study Program (DIS) in Copenhagen, Denmark directing the Science and Health Programs. While at DIS, Aggie worked closely with the University of Maryland on the HIV/AIDS summer program. She finally succumbed and joined the Study Abroad Office at UM in April 2007. In her free time, Aggie spends most of her time talking to her family and friends all over the world. Her passion is food; she confesses to having more pictures of food than people.

Catherine Donohoe
Coordinator of Semester Programs & Advising

Catherine joined the University of Maryland Study Abroad Office in September 2006. She landed on the East Coast after spending a few years living, studying and working in Chile, England and Spain. Catherine has a B.A. in Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an M.A. in Spanish from New York University. In her free time, Catherine can be found exploring the mid-Atlantic region, catching up on all the American books and TV she missed while away, or teaching her 5-year-old daughter to ride a bike.

Lisa Tenley Alton
Program Specialist for Outreach

Lisa joins the Study Abroad staff from Letters and Sciences, where she served a variety of roles over the years, including coordinating the Individual Studies Program, recruitment, a peer mentoring program, and exceptions to academic policy; teaching UNIV 100; academic advising; and serving as the interim Pre-medical advisor. Prior to that, she worked with the Office of Community Service Learning at Maryland. She is a double graduate of the University of Maryland with a BA in Psychology (Phi Beta Kappa) and an MA in Counseling and Personnel Services. Lisa's travel experiences include Sweden, England, and various Carribbean islands.

Shoshana Griffith
Program Assistant & Advisor

Shoshana joined the UM Study Abroad Office in July 2007 after returning from a year teaching English near Paris. She earned a B.A. in International Development Studies and a minor in Spanish from the University of Virginia (Phi Beta Kappa), where she worked as a Peer Advisor in the International Studies Office. Shoshana caught the Study Abroad bug in high school, when she spent a summer in Argentina and hosted a student from Ecuador. These experiences inspired her to study in northeast Brazil for a year and in Rio de Janeiro for a semester. She has traveled to Costa Rica, Japan, Germany, and throughout much of France, and speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and French. Outside the office, Shoshana can be found biking, rock climbing, or tackling girls twice her size on the rugby pitch. She also enjoys cooking and supporting her wine habit (especially Syrah from her home state of Washington).

Tanya Kang
Program Assistant & Advisor

Tanya joined the Study Abroad Office in August 2008. She recently lived in Sendai, Japan for a year where she taught English at a public high school on the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Program. She graduated from the University of Delaware with a B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literature with a concentration in Three Languages: Spanish, Italian, and Japanese. She studied abroad in Granada, Spain for a semester, and in Kobe, Japan for a summer; she also lived in Singapore with her family for about 3 and a half years. Her travels have taken her throughout Asia including Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand. She has also traveled to France, Italy, Netherlands, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Australia, and Israel. Outside the office when Tanya's not creatively expressing herself through photography (and hiding away in the darkroom), she's inspired by an eclectic taste in music, and snowboarding during the winter.

Laurie Koehler, Ph.D.
Resident Director in London

Laurie has been Resident Director of the London program since 1993. She has a B.A. in German literature (Phi Beta Kappa) and a B.M in music history from Oberlin College, and a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Göttingen (Germany). As an undergraduate she spent two summers in Vienna and one semester in Mainz as a study abroad participant. She was a Fulbright grant recipient to Germany, where she remained to complete her Ph.D. During her years in Germany Laurie worked as a research assistant in musicology for the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German National Research Foundation). After moving to London in 1982, she was London Director of the University of Delaware study abroad programme before becoming Maryland's London director. She is a founding member and serves on the Executive Committee of the Association of American Study Abroad Programmes in the UK. Fluent in German, she is a dual American and British citizen. Laurie and her German husband have two sons.