Office
Executive Leadership Team
Mervin Bakker
Mervin Bakker has been working in international education for 25 years. Immediately before joining the EAIE as Executive Director, he was Director International Strategy and Relations at the University of Groningen. Earlier in his career, Mervin was Regional Director at Nuffic’s Netherlands Education Support Offices in South Africa and Indonesia. Prior to this, Mervin worked at the University of Amsterdam as Manager International Programmes and as Head of Marketing & Communications for the Faculty of Economics and Business. He has also worked for an education agent in Thailand and ran a student related business in the Netherlands. Mervin holds an MSc in International Economics and Economic Geography from Utrecht University, and an MBA in Higher Education Management from the Institute of Education in London.
Laura E. Rumbley
Author, editor and educator with a passion for telling the full and complex ‘story’ of international higher education.
Laura is Director for Knowledge Development and Research at the EAIE. Before joining the EAIE, she was Associate Director of the Boston College Center for International Higher Education. She completed her undergraduate studies at Georgetown University, her Master’s degree at the School for International Training (SIT) Graduate Institute and her Doctorate degree at Boston College, studying as well at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the Universidad de Sevilla in Spain. Laura began her career in international education as an administrator and international student adviser at Boston University, subsequently becoming involved in international and comparative higher education, including an appointment as deputy director of the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) in Brussels. Laura has co-authored and co-edited a number of publications, including the foundational document for the 2009 UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education Trends in Global Higher Education: Tracking an Academic Revolution; the International Briefs for Higher Education Leaders series; and several books, chapters and articles focused on internationalisation and comparative perspectives on subjects affecting the academic profession and universities worldwide.
Knowledge Development Team
Jody Hoekstra-Selten
Jody Hoekstra-Selten is Knowledge Development Officer at the EAIE. After obtaining a Master’s degree in Western Literature and Culture and a Research Master’s degree in Literary Studies, both at Utrecht University (NL), she has been working within the field of (international) education policy since 2012. Starting out as Policy Advisor Higher Education at the NRTO (the Dutch Council for Training and Education), she also spent eight years at the British Council in various roles, including Exams Operations Manager and Head of Education for the Netherlands.
Partnerships Team
Gijs Verbeek
Gijs Verbeek is the Head of Partnerships at the European Association for International Education (EAIE), based in Amsterdam. In this role, he leads the organisation’s partnership strategy including the destination selection process for future conferences, developing sponsorship initiatives and exhibition collaborations that strengthen EAIE’s mission to empower international higher education worldwide. Gijs joined the EAIE in 2020.
Gijs brings extensive experience in association management, events, and hospitality. He holds a degree in International Hospitality Management, and combines strategic vision with a practical, relationship-driven approach to building sustainable partnerships that create value for both EAIE’s partners and the global higher education community.
- LinkedIn:
- https://linkedin.com/in/gijsverbeek/
