Celebrating Our 2023/24 IES Abroad Center Award Winners

At IES Abroad, we take pride in all our colleagues across the globe who create a community that fosters meaningful study abroad opportunities. Center faculty and staff are essential in making our students’ time on-site memorable: while advancing our ideals of academic excellence, these dedicated professionals provide an inclusive and nurturing environment to support our students’ lifechanging experiences, both inside and out of the classroom.

To honor the important contributions of our faculty and staff, we are celebrating three remarkable individuals who embody our mission of educating global leaders and exemplify an unwavering commitment and dedication to elevating the student experience.

Our 2023/24 IES Abroad Center Awards recognize faculty and staff who advance our ideals of academic excellence, embrace curricular innovation, model global citizenship, and create lifechanging experiences both inside and out of the classroom for our students. Their passion and leadership inspire both colleagues and students alike, paving the way for the future of study abroad.

The award recipients were selected from among over 150 colleagues nominated by students, staff, and faculty at their Centers. With award criteria in mind, nominees were carefully vetted by an IES Abroad Awards Selection Committee with broad membership from across our organization, including representation from AVPs, Center Directors, Academic Deans, and Professors.

This year, our Center Awards Winners will be presented their awards in-person at the 2025 IES Abroad Annual Conference in Vienna.

A man smiling in a white shirt and black vest with his hands clasped.

Award for Excellence in Teaching | Bertrand Pineau, IES Abroad Nantes Faculty

This award is given in recognition of dedicated, creative, and inspirational teaching to an instructor recognized by students, peers, and staff as going above and beyond in the classroom. Bertrand has achieved outstanding accomplishments through his one-of-a-kind Theater Production course in which he writes or adapts a new, unique play tailored to match his students each semester. His commitment to creating a welcoming, safe, and non-judgmental space allows for a truly transformative classroom. At the end of each semester, students report tremendous progress in their language expression and self-confidence.

Read Bertrand's full bio

“Professor Pineau manages to create this sense of excitement and trust with students as soon as the presentation session starts. Several students who chose this course do specifically so to push themselves outside of their comfort zone. They are very proud of what they accomplish, and we, staff members, faculty or IES Abroad friends in the audience, continue to be amazed by their achievement and the fact that they were able to do it in such a short amount of time. A truly transformative experience that we witness happen live. The result, before, during and after the final performance, showcases a spirit of great camaraderie among students, and of great respect and gratefulness toward Professor Pineau for leading them in this changing experience.”
Nicolas Stefanni, IES Abroad Nantes Center Director

Faculty Innovation Award | Maite Aparicio, IES Abroad Granada Faculty

This award recognizes someone who demonstrates curricular innovation in the content of their courses, their teaching methods, and throughout the study abroad experience in general. Maite is a constant, dependable presence in her students’ academic lives. Her dynamic curriculum centers the student through hands-on, project-based learning, which fosters engagement and creates a safe space for students to express themselves in Spanish. She has led many invaluable initiatives at the IES Abroad Granada Center, and has served as a jury member for our Study Abroad Film Festival.

Read Maite's full bio

“Maite is an inspiring and engaging educator, equally beloved by her students and her colleagues. She has consistently received stellar student evaluations. She has innovative, eclectic approaches to film and language teaching in the classroom, but also spends many hours every week giving our students all the one-on-one support they need. Her classes are extremely active, allowing students to practice different language skills, optimizing the linguistic development happening within the students' local communities in Granada.”
Javier Martínez de Velasco, IES Abroad Granada Center Director

Global Good Staff Service Award | Ángel López, IES Abroad Madrid Head of Student Affairs

This award is given to an outstanding staff member at an IES Abroad Center who has served the organization in invaluable ways, modeling the kind of global citizenship that and dedication to our mission that we hope to see in our students. Ángel is a vital member of our IES Abroad Madrid Center staff. Through his unwavering dedication, professionalism, and kindness over the past 21 years, Ángel has fostered a work environment that prioritizes inclusion, diversity, cooperation, and communication. His substantial impact on the IES Abroad Madrid Center is felt by the entire faculty.

Read Ángel's full bio

“Ángel has been working for IES for 21 years. He started as Student Affairs Assistant and he is the Head of this department now. He is a dedicated worker, both personable and patient. He works long hours and is always willing to help. He trained many new staff members over the past semesters, and reorganized the Student Affairs department. I very enthusiastically recommend Ángel for the award.”
Elvira Muñoz, IES Abroad Madrid Center Director

We're proud to be award-winning! From our innovations in alumni engagement to ranking as one of the top study abroad providers several years in a row, check out IES Abroad's most notable awards.

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