Along with the Peer Advisors and Student Assistants, The Global Education Office (GEO) has two Graduate Assistants who support the office with program management, enrollment, and partnerships.
Let’s meet them!
Alex Bahrami
Alex supports the GEO’s program and enrollment management efforts. He creates and updates content for program web pages, conducts research on faculty-led and exchange programs, and communicates with key stakeholders.
Alex is currently a graduate student pursing his Master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in Business Analytics. Alex graduated last May with a degree in Business Information Technology and a minor in International Business.
An avid traveler, Alex credits his parents for allowing him to explore the world.
He spent the summer of 2018 studying and interning in Thessaloniki, Greece. “Studying abroad was one of the best decisions I made at Virginia Tech,” Alex said. “It allowed me to see parts of the world and meet so many people that would not have been possible by simply visiting a city. Being completely immersed in a different part of the world gave me the opportunity to learn and experience other cultures and perspectives.”
A couple of fun facts about Alex…he is bilingual (English and Spanish) and he held a live penguin on a visit to Dubai!
Jake Keyel
Jake supports the office with curriculum research and mapping for new and existing exchange partnerships. His primary responsibilities include conducting preliminary research on the overlap between Virginia Tech courses and courses abroad, collecting course information for Virginia Tech and partner representatives to evaluate, and compiling a database of approved courses for transfer credit.
Jake is a PhD candidate in Planning, Governance, and Globalization program in the School of Public and International Affairs in the College of Archticture and Urban Studies. His research explores critical migration and refugee studies, democratic theory, and global ethics. Prior to Virginia Tech, he worked for five years in the non-profit sector providing education, employment, and civic engagement services to new immigrants – primarily from the Middle East and North Africa.
He received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Nazareth College of Rochester. His master’s degree in international relations with a concentration in Middle Eastern Affairs is from Syracuse University. Jake serves on the editorial broad of Community Change, a peer-reviewed journal housed at Virginia Tech’s Institute for Policy and Governance. He is also a board member and treasurer for the Blacksburg Refugee Partnership.
