Dean's Office
Florence Leclerc
Dean
Florence Leclerc is the dean of Parsons Paris. She is also senior director for Strategic Academic Partnerships and works on both campuses—New York and Paris—of The New School. Leclerc has spent most of her life abroad and currently lives in the United
States and France. She obtained her master's degree in translation from the École de Traduction et d’Interprétation of Geneva, Switzerland, as well as an MBA in Marketing from SUNY New Paltz. For a number of years, she chaired the Foreign Languages
Department at The New School in New York, where she taught all levels of French language and culture. In 2013, she moved back to France to relaunch Parsons Paris. Leclerc is also an associate professor of foreign languages and a novelist.
Loren Ringer
Director of Administration and Planning
Loren Ringer has been in the field of international education for the last 20 years. As an administrator of study programs in Brittany, Paris, and Barcelona, Ringer has worked closely with students as an educator, mentor, and guide. A dual citizen of
France and the United States, he enjoys helping students, faculty, and staff develop the cross-cultural skills necessary to live and work abroad and to interact with international teams. He applies the same skills to find creative solutions in the
daily academic and administrative operations of Parsons Paris. Ringer holds a PhD in French Literature with a minor in Art History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has published a book and numerous articles and reviews in the fields of
literature, gender studies, live theater performance, and international education.
Edward S. Mills III
Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, Academic Planning, and Registration
Edward Mills began as director of Student Life and Advising at The New School Parsons Paris in June 2013, building, implementing, and heading the offices of Student Life, Student Services, and Academic Advising. Before joining Parsons Paris, Mills served
as director of Auxiliary and Summer Programs at Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York. Before that, he served for six years as academic director of the International School of Management in Paris, France. Mills earned his MA in Political Science at
UNC, jointly with Sciences Po, and his BA at Skidmore College. He also completed the Management Development Program at the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education.
Arnaud Hédin
Assistant Director of Faculty Affairs and Academic Planning
Arnaud Hédin studied French as a foreign language (Maîtrise FLE) at the University of Nottingham and the Université Paris V Sorbonne and French literature at the University of Chicago. He holds a Maîtrise in LCE anglais (Université Paris Diderot). He
taught French courses at both the University of Chicago and the University of Chicago Center in Paris, and currently teaches French at Parsons Paris.
Karen Decter
Administrative Services and Events Manager
Originally from Boston, Karen Decter graduated with a BA in Political Science from Denison University in Ohio. She studied at Sciences Po through the Sweet Briar College Junior Year in Paris program. She moved back to Paris upon graduation and has never left.
Decter has held administrative and project management positions in Paris at international companies in the television production, retail, financial guarantee insurance, renewable energy, and real estate management industries.
Decter also holds a floral arts degree from TECOMAH in Jouy-en-Josas and has worked as a florist at a Parisian palace hotel. She is a triathlete and has been an official Fédération Française de Triathlon (FFTRI) referee for seven years and a volunteer
at Fédération Française d'Athlétisme (FFA) road races for nine years.
Lisa Sarma
Director of Communication and Marketing Initiatives
Lisa Sarma has been leading the Communications and Marketing department of Parsons Paris since 2018, defining and executing its multichannel marketing strategy and developing online, print and social media content. Sarma gained marketing experience working for startups and brands in the beauty and fashion sectors. Before joining Parsons Paris, she spent eight years at the head of the Digital Marketing department at Givenchy Beauty, part of the LVMH group. Before moving to Paris, she worked in environmental consulting and communications in San Francisco. Sarma holds degrees in civil and environmental engineering from Columbia University (BS) and Stanford University (MS).
Admission
Mike Fakih
Senior Director of Enrollment and Admissions and Assistant Vice President for International Recruitment
Mike Fakih has lived in North America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East and for eight years worked at Sciences Po Paris as director of the Europe-Africa Program and associate director of the Middle Eastern Program. His role encompassed project development,
institutional partnerships, and notably developing international admissions and promotion. He also taught seminars on corporate social responsibility and media studies. Previously he worked on the founding and launch of an international sustainable
development forum in France and was also a journalist in the Middle East. Fakih earned his MPA from Sciences Po and also completed an MA and BA in Political Science at Saginaw Valley State University in the United States.
Laura Fried
Assistant Director of Admissions
Laura Fried graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BA double major in Psychology and Journalism & Mass Communication. Fried previously worked as a pre-college and high school completion advisor at the Academy of Art University
in San Francisco. Before moving to France, she lived and worked in Germany, the Czech Republic, Australia, and New Zealand.
Yun Hye Jang
Admissions Counselor
Originally from South Korea, Yun Hye Jang attended Ewha Womans University in Seoul, where she studied English literature and language. She spent two semesters as an exchange student in Bristol, Tennessee, where she discovered the joy of being surrounded
by people from different cultural backgrounds. She then moved to Lyon, France, to continue to explore the world and stayed there for one semester at University Lyon 3. After finishing her studies, Jang began working at the global research company
TNS. She then took a position as an e-commerce specialist at Air France KLM Korea. In 2016, Jang moved to France and started writing articles about Paris, which were published on the Air France Korea blog. Jang worked as a student life coordinator
at Academic Programs International in Parsons Paris from July 2018 until June 2021; she now works in the Office of Admission at Parsons Paris as an Admission counselor.
Student Success
Hala Dimechkie
Dean of Students
Hala Dimechkie is an international education professional with more than 14 years’ experience in higher education. She comes to Parsons from the American University of Beirut (AUB) where she served first as a communications manager and then, for eight years, as the director of the Office of International Programs where she developed her expertise in international student services, study abroad programs and institutional partnership development. Before that, Dimechkie spent a number of years in the United States, where she worked in public relations and communications. Dimechkie was raised and educated in the UK, earning her BA at the University of Exeter and her MA in History at AUB. Dimechkie is trilingual, speaking English, French, and Arabic. She is passionate about intercultural communication, team work, and harnessing the power of peer-to-peer support.
Fabienne Maître
Director of Student Support and Crisis Management
Fabienne Maître has worked for the past six years for Parsons Paris, first in the Office of Student Life and then in the Office of Student Success. A PhD and professor of literature
(Paris-4 Sorbonne, 2005), Maître has worked for more than 15 years for American universities in Paris, including Stanford, Emory, Duke, and Cornell. She has also collaborated with Paris Catholic University, Dauphine University, and Ecole Supérieure
des Arts et Techniques (ESAT) as a drama instructor. She currently teaches contemporary British drama at Paris-3 Sorbonne Nouvelle in the Art and Media Department.
Emily Jiang-Poulard
Coordinator of Student Success
Emily Jiang-Poulard joined Parsons Paris in August 2018 as the coordinator of Student Success. Before moving to France in 2017, she worked for more than seven years in higher education in the United
States, specializing in international education. She holds an MEd in College Student Personnel Administration and a BS in Special Education from James Madison University. At Parsons Paris, Jiang-Poulard focuses on cultivating student development,
ensuring academic success, and helping students reach their potential in an inclusive global learning environment.
Virginie Grillet
Director of Career Development and Internships
Originally from Lille, a French city formerly known for its textile industry, Virginie Grillet studied business and harp. After graduating, she worked in marketing as a consultant
and home textiles as a product manager for 15 years. Grillet spent more than ten years working abroad (in Shanghai, Bangalore, Tokyo, and Düsseldorf), gaining valuable international experience that she is now bringing to Parsons Paris. Before joining
Parsons Paris, she searched for young talent and leading figures in Europe for a Japanese recruitment company. She participated in career fairs, held seminars for students, and prepared them for job interviews at Japanese companies. Grillet is developing
a number of student success initiatives and services, including internship opportunities, events on campus, relationships with employers, student mentoring, and alumni programming.
Technology and Campus Resources
Ivan Twohig
Director of Technology and Campus Resources
Ivan Twohig is a visual artist, designer, and educator from Dublin, Ireland. Before assuming his role in Parsons Paris, Twohig initiated the highly successful public making space Makeshop, and his artwork has been included in exhibitions in Ireland, France,
Norway, Germany, and China. Twohig is curious about how things work and how materials and technology can be used to communicate ideas. Twohig received a BA in Fine Art Sculpture from the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and a MA in Art in the Digital
World from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin.
Nicholas Guichard
Technician
Alice Lahana
Technician
Fionn O'Toole
Technician
Shaen Sellam
Technician