Below is a message from President John Fry:
As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Drexel co-op, the University, through the Drexel Solutions Institute, is already exploring how co-op will be reimagined over the next 100 years. The Solutions Institute has become the new gateway for industry partnerships — connecting Drexel’s 1,600 co-op employers, as well as other businesses and nonprofits, to Drexel student talent, faculty expertise and world-class resources.
I am pleased to announce that, effective this month, Anna Koulas will serve as vice president of the Solutions Institute. Anna will also become a member of our cabinet and leadership team. Anna previously was the Institute’s executive director, and, prior to that, executive director of business development at the LeBow College of Business.
In her new role, Anna will build on the Institute’s early success and expand its interdisciplinary reach across the University, while broadening its footprint to more co-op partners across all industries, including nonprofits.
Working with an expanded array of business and nonprofit partners, the Institute not only will design custom interdisciplinary solutions tailored to an organization and its people, but also grow experiential learning opportunities for students. The Institute also will assist its partners in areas such as talent acquisition and development, and product testing.
To provide organizations with talent pipelines and development solutions, and with interdisciplinary research-based solutions to meet today’s business and societal challenges, the Drexel Solutions Institute will draw upon faculty and students from across the University. The Institute’s support for comprehensive partnerships will help create more relevant interdisciplinary programs and enable organizations to effectively address their specific needs. And the Institute’s work will have a direct, beneficial impact on students’ experience by fostering a solutions approach that better prepares them for success in a rapidly changing world.
With nearly 20 years of work experience in higher education, Anna has extensive knowledge of corporate learning as well as expertise in admissions and graduate enrollment. She holds undergraduate BS/BA degrees in International Area Studies from Drexel, as well as a Drexel MBA with a specialization in marketing.
Before joining LeBow in 2011, Anna served as the director of enrollment management for both the University of New York in Prague, Czech Republic, as well as New York College in Athens, Greece, where she oversaw undergraduate, graduate and corporate programs. Prior to her work in Europe, she served as director of graduate admissions at LeBow.
Joining Anna on the Institute team are Rajneesh Suri, PhD, vice dean for research and strategic partnerships; Mandy Dollar and Andrea Ridgley, program coordinators; and Ella Straus, corporate relations.
I want to thank our interim provost, Paul Jensen, PhD, who developed the initial plan for the Solutions Institute while dean of LeBow, along with Ian Sladen, vice president of cooperative education and career development.
I hope you share my excitement about the Solutions Institute’s role in positioning Drexel as the premier university partner for industry and nonprofits, as well as its contribution to the vitality of the Drexel co-op in its second century. And please join me in congratulating Anna on her new role.