Biographies - United States
| Ambassador Robert R. Gosende | Ms. Sally Crimmins Villela | Ms. Claudia Hernandez | Ms. Linda Veraska |
| Dr. John Ryder | Ms. Lori Thompson | Ms. Sally Lampson | |
Ms. Claudia Hernandez, Program Officer for Latin America and Financial Manager
Claudia Hernandez began working for the Office of International Programs in August 2004 as a graduate student assistant. She is currently OIP's Program Officer for Latin America and Financial Manager.
Ms. Hernandez came to OIP after having obtained her second bachelor's degree, this one in International Relations with a concentration in Latin America, from SUNY New Paltz. She began her time at New Paltz by studying English as a Second Language and went on, not only to earn her degree, but also to earn a spot on the Dean's List as well as membership in Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society. She also worked in the campus' Office of International Programs.
Claudia Hernandez came to the United States from her native Colombia in August 2002 after having enjoyed a successful career there as a lawyer. In addition to completing her studies at law school, she studied Finance at the graduate level. Combining these areas of expertise, she worked for more than eight years in Colombia, first in the legal department of the country's largest national bank, and then as a project manager in charge of trusts for an international bank and trust.
Ms. Sally Lampson, Administrative Staff Assistant
Sally Lampson joined the Office of International Programs in September 2005. Previously she was an assistant in the Office of the Chancellor for seven years, and served as assistant to the Executive Director for System Administration Services before that. She was also secretary to the Director for Graduate Studies in the Department of English at the University at Albany.
Ms. Linda Veraska, Program Officer for Turkey
In December 2004, Linda Veraska joined SUNY's Office of International Programs as Program Officer for Turkey. In the winter of 2006, she also had the opportunity to live in Ankara, Turkey, working in SUNY's office there.
However, Ms. Veraska's association with SUNY goes back to her days as an undergraduate student. She holds a B.A. in French from SUNY Geneseo. While enrolled at Geneseo, she spent her junior year abroad studying for the academic year at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. Having completed her studies, she stayed on and traveled throughout Europe. Upon graduating from Geneseo and hoping to use her degree in French, she moved to New Orleans where she held a variety of jobs for several years.
Eventually Linda returned to New York and decided to pursue a master's degree in information systems from Marist College; Ms. Veraska continued to work in the computer field, first as a systems analyst and then as a technical support specialist, a position in which she continued for the next six years before joining SUNY.