Staff Profiles
Jim Friedlander, President, oversees all aspects of the company's operations. His 30 years of global business experience as an international banker and management consultant have been vital to our growing diversity of clients and programs. A graduate of Philips Exeter Academy, Wesleyan University and Columbia Business School, Jim travels frequently to explore new cultural opportunities, and serves on the Executive Advisory Committee of The Educational Travel Conference and Advisory Board of the Taj Hotel Group.
Richard Barcham, Vice President of Development and Sales, has a long history in tour management and has led more than 100 travel programs to foreign destinations. He helped blaze trails in countries once unfamiliar to most American travelers, including Cuba, Estonia, Romania, Syria and Tunisia. A former professional archaeologist, Richard was born in the U.K., and educated at the universities of Cambridge and Durham, where he studied history and archaeology.
Brady Hiatt, Manager, joined Academic Arrangements Abroad in early 2012. Previously, Brady worked in business development at Management Systems International, a firm based in Washington, DC that contracts and operates USAID projects around the world. A graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, Brady was previously employed as a researcher and editor on two internationally-focused books, served as a regional campaign manager on a Congressional campaign, and worked as a game ranger on a wildlife preserve in South Africa.
Harriet Friedlander, Chairman Emeritus co-founded the firm with William Roan in 1977. She also serves on the advisory boards of the New England Conservatory and the Ludwig Foundation for Cuba. In 2011, she was appointed as an accredited representative of the BPW International to the United Nations. Harriet is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Mount Holyoke College and holds an MAT degree from Harvard's Graduate School of Education.
Thomas Cawley, Chief Financial Officer, has served as both a corporate officer and a board member at multinational companies and local not-for-profits for over thirty years. He received an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and did his undergraduate work at Pennsylvania State University.
Ellen Renstrom, Vice President, has spent over twenty years in travel including positions at American Express Destination Services and Nyman Schultz Travel, where she oversaw all aspects of both inbound and outbound group operations. Fluent in Swedish, Spanish, French and Hebrew, she has lived in Israel and Ecuador and spent nine years in Sweden, where she was trained as a professional weaver. In addition to developing and operating programs at Academic Arrangements Abroad, Ellen scouts out destinations, including the Tran-Siberian private rail journey from Ulaan Baatar to Moscow, and most recently Israel and Morocco.
Gloria De Luca, Vice President, has over fifteen years experience in the travel industry, including positions with Royal Cruise Line in San Francisco and Air France and Cunard Line in New York. Since 1997 she has overseen brochure production at Academic Arrangements Abroad, as the company's direct mail promotions have expanded and evolved to meet the needs of our growing client list. Gloria has undergraduate degrees from the University of California and University of Paris, and a Masters in Art History from Hunter College. She enjoys traveling, especially to the Middle East, Mediterranean and her favorite city, Paris.
Meggan Reim, Vice President, Development & Operations, came to the firm in 2001 from the United Nations, where she focused on ecotourism for the Economic and Social Department. She combines her operational knowledge and field experience with her talents as a seasoned tour director to oversee and direct program development. She holds an MS in Global Affairs from New York University and a BS in International Business from Southern New Hampshire University.
Elizabeth Irwin, Secretary and General Counsel, traces her interest in travel to childhood years spent in Brussels. As Medieval Studies major at Wesleyan University, she spent her junior year in Paris. While attending Cardozo School of Law, she interned at a Japanese law firm in Tokyo and, as a practicing attorney, served as a New Jersey Assistant Prosecutor. She is an accomplished printmaker, avid gardner, and a certified yoga therapist.