Staff

Kari Miller assumed the Directorship of NYU Washington, D.C. on September 1, 2021. Kari’s depth of higher education experience expands over 20 years. She has managed study abroad programs for DC-based universities in Cape Town, Paris and Madrid. Most recently, she served as the Director of Honors and Scholar Development in the Office of Undergraduate Studies at Howard University; Kari also served as an affiliated faculty member in the Department of African Studies, teaching South African History in Literature and Film. Kari’s extensive international experience also includes her work with the Fulbright Scholar Program at the Institute of International Education (IIE), from 2010 to 2013. At IIE, she supported the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Africa Branch in the administration of Fulbright teaching and research grant programs for U.S. and visiting international faculty. Kari is also a member of the National Association of Fellowship Advisors, and serves annually on the Finalist Selection Committee of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. Kari received a B.A. in English from Spelman College, an M.S. in Higher Education from Florida State University. Her Ph.D. is in African Studies from Howard University, where she completed her doctoral research on "Representations of Black South African Women in the Plays of Athol Fugard and Zakes Mda."

Dr. Matthew S. Santirocco is Professor of Classics and Angelo J. Ranieri Director of Ancient Studies; he also serves as Faculty Director of NYU-Washington, DC. From 2011 to 2017 he was Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, and from 1994 to 2011 he served as the Seryl Kushner Dean of the College of Arts and Science at NYU. Before that, he was College dean at the University of Pennsylvania, and had also taught at Pittsburgh, Columbia, Emory, and Brown.

Dr. Santirocco's scholarly interests focus on Greek and Latin literature and thought. He is the author or editor of several books, including Unity and Design in Horace's Odes; Latinitas: The Tradition and Teaching of Latin; and What’s New about the Old (a special issue of “Daedalus” on new approaches to the Greco-Roman world), as well as numerous articles. He is currently working on a book about the poetics of patronage in Augustan Rome. A past editor of the American Philological Association's monograph series, American Classical Studies, and of the journal, Classical World, he currently edits the Palgrave Macmillan monograph series, The New Antiquity. He also founded and directs NYU's Center for Ancient Studies, which promotes interdisciplinary and cross-cultural study of the past through conferences, student grants for international research, summer seminars for faculty from across the United States, and occasional publications.

In addition to his work in classics, Dr. Santirocco has promoted broader educational innovation. At Penn, he developed humanities curricula for the MBA and Executive Education programs at the Wharton School, with which he also partnered to create an undergraduate International Studies/Business program. At NYU, he led faculty in the design of a new core curriculum, as well as in the creation of a fully-funded undergraduate research program, Freshman and Advanced Honors Seminars, and cross-school programs. Having worked on curriculum and faculty recruitment for NYU's branch campus in Abu Dhabi, he oversaw the development of the academic program for NYU Shanghai.

A graduate of Columbia and Cambridge Universities, Dr. Santirocco has received research grants from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, American Numismatics Society, American Council of Learned Societies, and National Endowment for the Humanities. He has served as Vice President for Professional Matters and as Financial Trustee of the American Philological Association (now Society for Classical Studies), as a founding member of the executive committee of the Reinvention Center (now Collaborative), a national consortium of research universities committed to improving undergraduate education, and as a board member of the South Street Seaport Museum, The Classical Association of the Atlantic States, and Commonweal magazine. He currently serves on the boards of the artists' colony Yaddo and the Aquila Theatre. In 2009, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2011 was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Academy for the humanities and social sciences.

Tom works to identify public programming opportunities for the Washington, DC site. He seeks out and manages VIP speakers, links programs to academic initiatives at NYU, builds audiences, and connects events to other NYU global sites. In addition, he initiates and facilitates the participation of national experts and scholars, policymakers, professionals and entrepreneurs in both classroom lectures and special program events. Coordinating with other NYU administrators and faculty, he creates and maintains a robust program and event schedule including symposium, speaker series, lectures, and extra-curricular programming. Tom oversees the NYU DC internship program by managing the relationships with the internship providers and ensuring placements for NYU students. He works with the Assistant Vice President for Government Affairs on State Department and Embassy initiatives in Washington, DC and abroad in order to ensure that technical issues such as visas are addressed and programmatic possibilities are explored. He is the founder and director of NYU Washington, DC's DC Dialogues program.

Tom is also the Deputy Director of Programming and Outreach of New York University’s John Brademas Center where he oversees the Center’s program agenda, acts as the Congressional liaison and coordinates its Congressional Internship Program. Recently, collaborating with other Congressional centers, he has created The Young Leaders Network, connecting today’s young leaders to established policymakers, experts and mentors in Washington, DC.

Prior to joining the Brademas Center, he acted as the office administrator for New York University’s office of government and community affairs. From 1999 until 2004, Tom worked in the U.S. Senate for Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD), and was the Senator’s Director of Correspondence. Tom received his B.A. from The Catholic University of America with minors in Philosophy and Religious Studies and earned his Masters of Public Administration with a specialization in management of public and nonprofit organizations from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University.

Tom enjoys running around the Arboritum and exploring DC nightlife. He is an avid traveler having visited nearly 40 countries and has flown enough miles to circle the earth 60 times. He looks forward to working with students on their professional career goals while they live, study and work in the city he calls home.

Victoria Kiechel has 20 years of professional experience in architecture, education, and sustainable design. A practicing architect, she works for the Cadmus Group, Inc., an environmental consultancy, and is a faculty member of the Global Environmental Politics Program, the School of International Service, American University (AU), in Washington, DC. In 2010, she was the inaugural recipient of AU’s Most Innovative Green Teacher of the Year award. At Cadmus, Vicky has worked for the US Green Building Council to develop and support the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating Systems; advises the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) ENERGY STAR commercial and industrial branch; leads consulting and review teams for buildings seeking LEED certification; and manages sustainability initiatives for clients as diverse as the Smithsonian Institution and state and local governments. Her architectural design work focuses on small-to-medium scale residential and institutional projects. For the Washington, DC Capitol Hill School Libraries Project, she designed the library for Maury Elementary School.

John Brooks joins NYU with 15 years’ experience managing Administration, Operations, Programs, and Outreach and Marketing in Higher Education.  Prior to joining NYU DC as Manager, Site Operations and Administration; John had managed 10 Satellite Campuses across Maryland and Washington, DC for a local and a global university.  John is passionate about collaboration, thrives at trouble-shooting campus issues, and enthusiastically views his roles in higher education administration as an opportunity to give back to learners. 

John has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Concentrating in Business and Minoring in Marketing; along, with a Master’s of Science in Distance Education Policy and Management and a Masters of Business Administration. 

John is a native of North Central Pennsylvania and thoroughly enjoys living in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. He enjoys spending most of his free time with his wife, daughter, son, and dog (they didn’t make him write this); as well, as traveling and learning/ experiencing different cultures throughout the globe. 

Deb Weiss, LICSW is a therapist with 20 years of experience working with individuals living with mental health conditions and overwhelming life stressors. Prior to joining NYU DC as the Global Wellness Counselor, Deb was the Director of Clinical Services for Wellspring in Louisville, KY and a member of the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Louisville Board of Directors.

Deb utilizes a holistic, strengths-based perspective and sees accessible, safe, and supportive therapeutic space as the key to obtaining and maintaining wellness.  Deb earned her BA at Barnard College and her MSW at NYU School of Social Work. Her areas of expertise include mood disorders, trauma, psychosis, grief, sense of self, identity, relationship issues, and disordered use of substances.

Deb is originally from the DC area and recently returned to live close to her family. Deb enjoys traveling, e-biking, swimming in the ocean, singing and spending time with her husband, children, dog, and cat.

Dewayne Stewart comes to NYU Washington, D.C. with over fifteen years of experience in television. He brings with him technical expertise that he has aquired through working at various television networks like Fox News, Bloomberg Television, C-SPAN, NASA TV, and many more within the Washington, DC area.

Dewayne received his Bachelor of Arts in Television Production from the John H. Johnson School of Communications at Howard University. It was there that Dewayne started his career in television at the on campus PBS Affiliate Station, WHUT-TV32. He worked there while being a full-time student.

Dewayne is a Washington, D.C. native and enjoys movies, music and cooking in his free time.  

Sharlene is a Bronx, New York native and serves as the Program Manager at NYU Washington D.C. Her work involving international and experiential education has helped her build culturally aware and sustainable communities within residences in Boston, London and now in the nation’s capital. She received her B.A. in Journalism at Northeastern University and has studied and worked in five countries across five continents.

Before joining the NYU Washington D.C. team, she worked with The George Washington University in the Office for Study Abroad and with first-year Northeastern students in London. Her passion for learning, leading and adventure has taken her far beyond the borders of the Bronx and she looks forward to sharing this enthusiasm with the NYU Washington D.C. community.

In her spare time Sharlene enjoys listening to podcasts and reading about history, social justice, media and politics. She also enjoys live music, concerts and festivals of all kinds. On any free day you can usually bet she’s near a body of water whether a pool or the Potomac. 

Charles A. Anderson III (he/him/his) is a dedicated education professional with experience in Student Affairs, Data Analytics, and Academic Affairs. Charles attended Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN where he majored in English and History. Initially focused on a career in journalism while in undergrad, Charles felt the pull of working in education through his experiences working in student government and alongside administrators and faculty. He also witnessed the need for dedicated people at higher education institutions. After six years of working in journalism and for the state of Tennessee in data analysis Charles decided that he would commit to working in higher education full-time. Charles finished his M.Ed. in Higher Education administration at Middle Tennessee State University. Charles continues his path in education as he studies Higher Education Policy at Howard University. His career goals are to ensure that education attainment is equitable for all populations and different university types are properly funded and considered in the construction of policy. In his free time Charles enjoys discovering different authors and musicians across all genres. He also enjoys staying active through various activities such as biking, running marathons, and traveling to discover new food spots in whatever city he's in.

Roxanne Roman earned her degree in Social Science from New York University Shanghai with the university's inaugural class of 2017. She earned her Master’s in Management Science and Global Affairs at Tshinghua University as a 2018 Schwarzman Scholar. While at NYU Shanghai, Roxanne served as a founding member of student government, the 2013 Fund, a Resident Assistant, and as Student Body President. She studied away in Abu Dhabi and in Washington D.C. as a Global Leadership Scholar, where she also interned at the White House for First Lady Michelle Obama. Upon graduating, Roxanne delivered NYU’s 185th Student Commencement Address at Yankee Stadium as well as NYU Shanghai’s very first Student Commencement Address. China Hands magazine named her one of 25 Under 25 in U.S.-China relations in 2017.

Roxanne is from a career military family and grew up all over the world. She has most recently called Okinawa, Japan home where she worked for a non-profit servicing the military community and learned to scuba dive.

Donovan Dixon earned his degree in Public Policy from New York University in 2023. Throughout his time at NYU, Donovan interned for New York City Councilmembers Robert Cornegy and Carlina Rivera, the Department of State’s Bureau of Legislative Affairs and Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, the White House Office of the First Lady, and several other organizations. On campus, Donovan served as the Director of Service for the Paulette Goddard Residential College, Co-Vice President of Service for the Inter-Residence Hall Council, and as a co-Peer Mentor for the community service-focused, pre-orientation program Project Outreach. Most recently, Donovan delivered NYU’s 190th Student Commencement Address at Yankee Stadium. He is currently working for the Office of the First Lady at the White House.

Donovan is originally from Philadelphia, PA and his hobbies include listening to music, exploring parks, and trying new foods.

Melissa is a Study Away Advisor based in NYC. She's excited to support students interested in studying away at NYU Washington, DC.