Home
 About AAIE
 AAIE Annual Conference
Institutes & Workshops
 Join/Renew Membership
 Organizational Documents
Awards & Recognitions
 Advertising Forms
 AAIE Forms
 Inter Ed & AAIE Calendar
 Survey Summaries
 International Counseling
 Contact Us

Recipients of the
Ernesto Mannino Award for Superintendent of the Year

Barbara Johnson	1991
John Dorbis	1992	view
Clifford Strommen	1993	view
Don Bergman	1994	view
Leo Ruberto	1995	view
Daryle Russell	1996	view
James Ambrose	1997	view
Keith Costello	1998	view
Everett McGlothlin	1999	view
Niall Nelson	2000	view
Monica Greeley	2001	view
Rob Ambrogi	2003	view
Robert Sills	2004	view
Paul Poore	2005	view
Bob Gross	2006	view
William Gerritz	2007	view
Harlan Lyso	2008	view

Dr. Dorbis holds degrees from the City University, London, the Sorbonne, and Harvard and has worked in secondary education and in universities. In 1974 he introduced the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme into Greece.

Among his many distinctions are Overseas Superintendent of the Year awarded by the American Association of School Administrators in 1992, the “Hall of Fame” award of the Association for the Advancement of International Education also in 1992, and the Finis Engleman Annual Award in 1997 by the Near East/South Asia Council of International Schools.

^ Back to top

Cliff Strommen

Cliff retired in 2004 after over 30 years in international education. During that time, he administered schools in five countries: India, Zambia, Brazil, Chile and Bolivia.
His schools were twice awarded the Carnegie Foundation Grant for Excellence in Education and he introduced the first Optimal Learning Center model, which has been duplicated in overseas and stateside schools.
Professionally, Cliff was an active leader who serviced as president of AISA, AASSA and AAIE. He is a member of the AAIE Hall of Fame.
He served on the SACS Latin American Committee for several years prior to his retirement and chaired many accreditation team visits. He continues to serve on SACS accreditation, Quality Assurance Review teams. His family is grown. Both his son and daughter graduated from Graded in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He and Bette have three active grandchildren

^ Back to top

Don Bergman

^ Back to top

Leo Ruberto

^ Back to top

Peace Corps service in the early 1960's whetted the appetites of Daryle Russell and his wife Dannie for more overseas experiences, and this interest resulted in more than two decades of overseas school service. Beginning in 1972, at the International School of Manila, he served as assistant to the superintendent, high school principal and assistant superintendent, and he led the way to implementation of the international baccalaureate curriculum and streamlining of school business operations. During his ten-year tenure there, he also managed two EARCOS conferences held in Manila. In 1982 Dr. Russell was appointed superintendent of the Saudi Arabian International School in Riyadh, where he has achieved successful staff recruitment and continuous parent, community and board support. The school participated in a program of strategic planning after completing the first overseas curriculum audit. Dr. Russell also chaired the NE/SA board from 1988 to 1992 and from 1987 to 1990 served on the AAIE board. A member of TIE and a founding member of the Society Limited to Overseas School Heads, he has led many conference presentations, two AAIE/NASE workshop presentations and published many articles on overseas topics.

^ Back to top

Jim enjoyed an overseas administrative career that spanned 24 years beginning in 1973. He started in Stavanger (Norway) and then moved to Cairo American College in the role of Principal, then progressed to Headships in Dhaka, Colombo, Lusaka and Abu Dhabi, culminating at the United Nations International School of Hanoi where he was honored to be named Superintendent of the Year for 1997 AAIE.

Well known for his work with school governance, he wrote, helped produce or acted in four videotapes on the topic, sponsored by the Overseas Schools Advisory Committee and the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

He has been a featured speaker at NESA, EARCOS, AAIE, IRC and AISA conferences and has consulted on governance issues at dozens of schools. He has published well over fifty articles, mainly on school administration.

Jim has been a member of the governing boards for the Near East/South Asian Council of Overseas Schools (NESA), the International Educator (TIE), and the Commission of Elementary Schools, Middle States Association (CES-MSA).

He regularly teaches courses in school administration and financial management for the Academy for International School Heads and the Principals Training Center. He joined Search Associates after leaving Hanoi and specializes in Head searches and consulting with schools on long term financial planning issues as well as governance. Jim continues to organize a recruiting fair for teachers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as well as participating in other recruiting efforts.

Jim is a Michigan native, a graduate of Hillsdale College (Michigan) and earned his MA in Educational Leadership from Eastern Michigan University. Jim and his wife, Terry, live in Carson Valley, Nevada, near Lake Tahoe.

^ Back to top

Keith Costello

Keith Costello began his career in upstate New York where he taught mathematics and science for four years. After marrying his lovely wife Mary, they decided to embark on an adventure in international education that lasted over twenty five years. During this time Keith served as head of school on four continents and also completed a Ph.D. He has been a member of NESA, ECIS and AASSA. In the United States he also served as the Superintendent of the Rolling Hills Preparatory School in Southern California for a seven year period.

Keith and his wife decided to return to the United States from Brazil in 2001. They settled in Asheville, NC and are both actively involved in volunteer work for a variety of organizations. He remains involved in education through Head net, SLOSH, service on a school board and the board of the literacy council.

^ Back to top


Everett McGlothlin currently serves as Director of Outdoor Education and Marine Science programs with the San Diego County Office of Education. Everett's outdoor education program provides a week-long experience for over 20,000 sixth grade students annually and his marine science floating laboratory will schedule another 12,000 students on some 315 field trips. Since his employment with the San Diego County Office of Education, Everett has actively participated in a host of fund raising projects which provide scholarships for 'at risk youth' and camperships for low income students who attend the outdoor school program. In 1993, Everett was placed on the Dollars for Scholars - Natonal Honor Roll in recognition for his fund raising efforts.

Everett remembers his initial involvement in international education was somewhat of a lark-when he responded to an advertisement for the superintendent's position in Karachi, Pakistan. With experience as a teacher, counselor, and elementary/secondary administration; Everett decided to apply for the superintendent's position. This was done without fully realizing the many dilemmas of packing and moving a young family to a new country/culture which they knew very little about. Beginning with Pakistan and continuing through his tenure in Zambia and Kenya; Everett realized the great value of international education. The people they met and the extraordinary experiences will remain with Everett and his family for a lifetime.

Everett McGlothlin has served the cause of international education, overseas schools and AAIE for nearly a quarter of a century. During his eight years as an overseas superintendent he served on the NE/SA Board (1971-74), AISA Board (1974-78) and was a member of the AAIE board (1972-74 and 1975-77). Since 1988, Everett has been an ex-officio member of the AAIE Board - in his role as conference coordinator. As AAIE conference coordinator he has been intimately involved in the overall planning, execution and evaluation of the annual meetings. Lew Grell, Executive Director of AAIE, has said of Everett, "he provides the wheels that make the AAIE conferences run so smoothly".

As a stateside administrator, he has assisted numerous overseas teachers and administrators in obtaining appropriate professional credentials. Additionally he has been a valuable resource for overseas educators who have required assistance in finding employment in the stateside educational job market. He has been an invaluable resource to AAIE in recent years as a leader and adviser, and he was recently awarded a life membership in AAIE for his services.

^ Back to top


Dr. Niall Nelson holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Sussex in the UK and master's and doctoral degrees from Harvard University. He is currently Headmaster and CEO of Jakarta International School in Indonesia. Previous headships include the posts of CEO of the International School of Tanganyika, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Director of the American International School in Genoa, Italy. Niall has also served as Assistant Director of the Anglo-American School, Moscow, Russia, and as Elementary Principal of the Oil Companies School, Tripoli, Libya. Before beginning his international school career he taught in the UK and the USA.

An Irish national, Niall is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Council of International Schools and past Board President of the Academy for International School Heads. He has also served as an elected member of the International Baccalaureate Council of Foundation, was Vice Chairman of the Representative Committee of IB Heads, and has served at different times on the boards of EARCOS, ECIS and AISA.
Niall is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Research in International Education. In 1996, he was appointed to the post of Honorary Irish Consul to Indonesia by the Department of Foreign Affairs of Ireland and continues to serve in that capacity.

^ Back to top

Monica Greeley

^ Back to top

Rob Ambrogi began his multicultural career in Teacher Corps in 1971 in inner city Lackawanna, NY. After teaching there for five years, he married his wife Kathi in 1976 and they spent the next two years as Peace Corps volunteers in Mamfe, Cameroon. He was 29 when he was appointed to his first headship in 1978, at what is now called the American School of Yaoundé. After earning his doctorate at the University of South Carolina in 1984, he went on to serve as head of school in Monrovia, Lisbon, Islamabad and Johannesburg. In between his years abroad, he worked at ISS for four years in the early 1990's. Through it all, Rob and Kathi have raised three wonderful sons: Mike, Tim and Matt.

^ Back to top

Dr. Sills is a graduate of San Francisco State University and completed his Master’s and Doctorate from Harvard. He began his overseas career in 1973 as a middle school coordinator in Kinshasa, and since that time has also held administrative positions in Ouagadougou, Kenya, Thailand, and Morocco. In 1993, Dr. Sills was awarded the National Distinguished Principal Award by the U.S. Secretary of Education.

Throughout his overseas career, Dr. Sills has been very active in a variety of professional organizations and regional associations. In addition, he has provided outstanding leadership within the international community, regional boards, and numerous professional development activities.

Dr. Sills will be receiving the AAIE/Mannino Superintendent of the Year on Tuesday, February 23 during the first general session. On Thursday, February 26th, Dr. Sills will give the AAIE Distinguished Lecturer address. In addition, AASA (American Association of School Administrators) has invited Dr. Sills to be recognized as AAIE’s representative at their annual Superintendent of the Year celebration.

^ Back to top

Paul Poore is in his twenty-sixth year as an international educator, currently serving as the Director of Harare International School in Zimbabwe. Paul earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English Literature from the University of New York at Albany. His overseas teaching career has taken him to Germany, Greece, twice to Japan, Nepal and Zimbabwe. After twelve years of teaching, Paul earned an M.Ed. in Counseling along with administrative certification from the University of New Hampshire.

He was appointed the Middle & High School Principal/Assistant Director of Lincoln School in Kathmandu in 1990 and was subsequently named Director in 1995. In 1998, Paul was selected as the Director of Harare International School where he and his wife Miriam have happily remained to date.

Paul has been active in professional and regional organizations, serving as Treasurer of the AISA Board of Directors for the past six years and as an appointed member of the Board of Directors of the Academy of International School Heads since the organization’s inception. He was recently elected to the Executive Committee of AISH and appointed Treasurer.

Paul has been active in promoting effective governance within the AISA region. In addition to offering annual Governance Institutes, he has served as a consultant and board trainer to numerous schools in Africa. In 2003, Jim Ambrose and Paul teamed up to develop a “Training the Trainers Program” for heads of AISA schools. Their materials and Paul’s own workshop are available to AISA and AISH members.

^ Back to top

I was raised on a farm in North Dakota. The first eight years of my education were in a tiny rural school that had eleven students enrolled. There were two of us in my grade. Graduated with a Business and Physical Education/Health Degree from Valley State University, North Dakota in 1964; attained a Master’s Degree in School Administration from North Dakota University in 1966 and a Specialist Degree in School Administration from the University of Minnesota in 1986.

My first teaching and principal position was at Waubun High School in Waubun, Minnesota. I worked in the Brainerd Public Schools District in Minnesota for 31 years serving in the capacity as Assistant Senior High Principal, Junior High Principal, Assistant Superintendent and the last 18 years as Superintendent of Schools. In 1999, I was appointed as the Superintendent of Schools at Singapore American School in Singapore, position held to date. Professional affiliation with AAIE, EARCOS, AISH, AASA, Phi/Delta/Kappa.

Judy and I have one daughter, Jenny, who is married and lives in Minneapolis, Mn.

^ Back to top

 

Dr. William H. Gerritz is Superintendent of the International School of Bangkok, Thailand.

Education:
Ph.D. in School Finance, Leadership, and Policy Analysis
M.A. in School Administration
B.S. in Chemistry and Mathematics
University of California, Berkeley

 

Harlan Lyso began his international school career as a teacher/principal in Trinidad in 1972. In the intervening years he has headed schools in Indonesia and Niger and for the past twenty years he has called Seoul Foreign School in Seoul, South Korea, home. Harlan came to teaching through the Teacher Corps and taught on Indian reservations in Arizona and Washington State. With a BA in economics and a doctorate in school administration he did postdoctoral studies as a Klingenstein fellow at Teachers College, Columbia University. His wife, Mary, who taught most of her career, has for the past several years worked with an NGO providing medical relief in North Korea. Both of Harlan's children have become international school teachers.

^ Back to top