Hans de Wit, a leading authority on higher education internationalisation, has been appointed director of the Center for International Higher Education at the Lynch School of Education (CIHE), Boston College. De Wit will be taking over the position from Research Professor Philip Altbach, who created and has led the centre for almost two decades.

Among his current duties, De Wit holds the post of director of the Centre for Higher Education Internationalisation (CHEI) at Universita Cattolica Sacro Coure in Milan, Italy – a centre that he helped set up in 2012. He is also a Professor of internationalisation of higher education at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and conducts research at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. In addition to his many ongoing research-related activities, he is currently leading a comprehensive study on the internationalisation of higher education in Europe for the European Parliament, a study which is expected to be released for the wider public in the coming months. Hans is also one of the founding members and past presidents of the European Association for International Education (EAIE) and former co-editor of the Journal of Studies in International Education (JSIE).

The former CIHE director, Professor Philip Altbach, retired from his position as the J. Donald Monan, SJ university professor at Boston College in 2013, although he continues to be active in research, covering themes such as research universities, developing countries and the academic profession. Altbach was also the 2004-2006 Distinguished Scholar Leader for the New Century Scholars initiative of the Fulbright programme. He has been a senior associate of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and served as editor of the Review of Higher Education, Comparative Education Review, and as an editor of Educational Policy.