Program Staff

The UAH Office of International Programs and Services (OIPS) is excited to welcome you to Huntsville! The members of the office share in the duties of coordinating and participating in the academic offerings, cultural activities, and skill enhancement sessions. We are responsible for overseeing students’ participation in the Institute, specifically to see that all students are taking an active part in the Institute, and will resolve any problems, as necessary. During your stay, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. You may email the program staff at oip@uah.edu, or see the Contact page for more contact information. Again, welcome to UAH!

Dr. John R. Pottenger, director of the Office of International Programs and Services, and professor of political science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, serves as the academic director of the Institute. In this capacity, Dr. Pottenger provides close guidance and professional advice as you participate in the Institute and develop a project for presentation in Washington, D.C. As a university professor, Dr. Pottenger has spent over 20 years teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in classical, medieval, and modern political philosophy; American political thought; contemporary social theory; and political ethics and public policy. His published research includes two books and numerous articles dealing with problems in classical philosophy, modern political theory, contemporary Christian and Islamic political theology, and civil society. Dr. Pottenger has given numerous community lectures on contemporary social issues, including presentations on the importance of civil society to visiting delegations from the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan; he has also conducted workshops on civil society in Bukhara and Termez, Uzbekistan. Dr. Pottenger also has extensive and varied experience in international activities and projects, including living in Brazil for two years. He has also made numerous visits to the Soviet Union since 1989 and later some of the newly independent states (Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan).


Ms. Sarah Hemmings serves as the assistant director of the OIPS and the administrative director of SUSI at UAHuntsville. As a dual-national (Canadian and British) who is comfortable speaking French, Spanish, and German, Sarah is naturally inclined toward international education. She is a native of Toronto, Canada, but comes to us from Georgia, USA, where she earned her B.S. in Human Ecology and M.S. in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development at the University of Georgia. An avid traveler, Sarah studied abroad in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Galapagos, Peru, Bolivia, and South Korea.

Upon completing her Masters, Sarah was awarded a fellowship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to conduct water quality research on the Georgian and Puerto Rican coasts. She then instructed environmental studies on a field course for undergraduates studying geology, environmental studies, and American cultural studies at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Sarah is currently pursuing a Masters of Public Health in Environmental Health from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, with a concentration in International Health and Global Studies. She has been an intern with NASA DEVELOP and is using remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) to study human diseases, such as West Nile Virus.


Ms. Anita L. Rathz, OIPS senior program assistant, has been with the office since 1998 and manages the coordination and oversight of UAH/OIPS international student sponsored programs.  Current and past programs include Fulbright, Global UGRAD, UGRAD, FORECAST, Muskie, NESA, PLUS, BUDP, YLF, and P4L programs.  She has been involved with the implementation of numerous educational programs in conjunction with state, national, and international agencies, including the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, American Councils for International Education, the Alabama State Department of Education, the International Research and Exchanges Board, and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.  These programs involve working with teachers, students, and business people from all over the world, especially from Eurasia and Central Asia.  Her area of interest and experience includes working with other units on campus to assist and provide support services as needed for all international students.

Ms. Kathleen Sobai, OIPS program assistant, is a graduate of Auburn University with a degree in political science. Her family has been a host for OIPS visitors for many years, and she was previously a student assistant in the OIPS office. For the past year, Kathleen has been living in Morocco with her husband, Abbes Sobai, an alumnus of the PLUS program at UAH. There, she studied at Al Akhawayn University, Morocco’s most prestigious university, in the Atlas Mountains town of Ifrane. After graduation, she worked briefly in the capital Rabat for the Moroccan-American Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange, a binational Fulbright commission organizing adult and student exchange programs. Kathleen and her husband welcomed their first child, Sophia Carolyn, into the world in May of 2008! Congratulations!

SUSI AMBASSADORS
Our six SUSI Ambassadors, the corps of UAHuntsville students that will accompany you during your program, will provide you with advice, cultural interpretation, and fun! The Ambassadors are all studying diverse topics, such as education, political science, and philosophy, and they will assist you in your study of the U.S. The Ambassadors are excited and curious to meet you! Before you arrive in the U.S., you will receive an email from UAHuntsville inviting you to join the ANGEL discussion forum online; there, you can ask the Ambassadors and the UAHuntsville SUSI staff any questions you may have.

See the Contact page for more details.