SIPA Welcomes New Directors of Admissions and Alumni Affairs

Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) has appointed new leadership to help ensure students’ successful experiences with the School both on their way in and after they leave. Grace H. Han is SIPA’s new Executive Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, and Scott Pesner is the School’s new Director of Alumni Affairs.

Han will work to recruit outstanding students from around the globe who belong at SIPA because of their desire to make the world a better place. She brings a wealth of institutional knowledge and experience with Columbia, and with marketing and enrollment management.

Han most recently served as Associate Dean of Strategic Enrollment Management at Columbia’s School of Continuing Education. Prior to that, she spent six years with Columbia Business School, rising to Senior Associate Director of Marketing and Communications for the School-wide Marketing and Admissions team.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Studio Art from the State University of New York at Binghamton and an MBA from George Washington University.

Pesner will work to increase SIPA’s engagement with its 17,000+ alumni, currently living in 156 countries around the world, and to enrich their engagement with each other. He brings an impressive dedication to the cause of alumni relations. He has devoted an enormous amount of time and effort to voluntarily organizing alumni activities for his alma mater, Cornell University, as well as serving as President of the school’s New York City club.

Pesner previously worked as Vice President and Director of Strategic Planning at New York-based NMA Entertainment & Marketing, one of the nation’s top entertainment marketing agencies, and as a freelance marketing and communications consultant.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in communications from Cornell and an MBA from Fordham University.

Together with Caroline Kay, who was appointed Associate Dean for Student Affairs earlier this year, Han and Pesner comprise SIPA’s new leadership team overseeing the entire student experience from application to graduation and beyond.

 

Alex Burnett, October 5, 2011