Katerina Grim is a senior higher education leader with more than three decades of experience in global education, academic administration, international student services, and teaching. She currently serves as Assistant Vice Provost for Global Education at New York University Abu Dhabi, where she has played a central role in developing and leading the university’s global education programs since 2010.

At NYU Abu Dhabi, Katerina oversees a broad portfolio of global academic programs and student mobility initiatives, working across NYU’s global network and in close partnership with faculty and university leadership. A particular focus of her work is advancing experiential global learning and creating globally connected educational experiences that integrate academic study with intercultural engagement, place-based learning, and direct experience in diverse communities and contexts. Her portfolio includes semester-long and short-term study away, global curriculum development, international student mobility, institutional partnerships, risk management, program operations, and the policies and systems that support students pursuing academic experiences around the world. She has extensive experience developing new programs, leading diverse teams, building cross-institutional partnerships, and navigating the increasingly complex academic, operational, and geopolitical landscape of global higher education.

Before joining NYU Abu Dhabi, Katerina spent a decade at Oberlin College, where she served as Associate Dean of Studies and Director of International Student Services. Her work included academic advising and policy, international student support, program development, and language education. Earlier, at the American University in Bulgaria, she worked in academic administration and teaching, including five years in the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty and a decade on the English Language Institute faculty.

Having begun her career as an educator, Katerina brings an academic and student-centered perspective to her leadership in global education. Across her career, she has been particularly interested in how students learn through encounters with different places, cultures, communities, and perspectives—and how universities can design global experiences that make those encounters intellectually meaningful. This continues to shape her approach: connecting academic learning with experience, fostering curiosity and intercultural understanding, and creating opportunities for students to engage thoughtfully with a complex and interconnected world.