Gao Qing

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Gao Qing

Executive Director

Gao Qing is the Executive Director of the Confucius Institute U.S. Center. Under his leadership, the Center, collaborates with other educational and cultural organizations in Washington, DC, and across the country to promote the Chinese language learning, global education and international people-to-people exchange. The Center’s signature programs include the US-China Global Education TV Series and the Confucius Institute National Honors Gala.

Gao served as Director of the Confucius Institute at George Mason University from 2010 to 2017, where he oversaw programming, finance, and operations. The George Mason University Confucius Institute received the “Confucius Institute of the Year” award in 2013, and Gao was recognized with the “Individual Excellence” award in 2012 from the Confucius Institute Headquarters. Gao has chaired panel discussions on the topics of assessment and evaluation, teaching technologies, and program development in international Confucius Institute conferences, and has given lectures at Chinese Director Training programs since 2012. He was also a faculty member of the Arts Management program at George Mason University, and served as Special Assistant to the Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts for China and Global Initiatives. Gao was instrumental in developing collaborative relationships between George Mason University and leading Chinese arts, cultural, and educational institutions on philanthropy and arts management, as well as educational partnerships. In addition, he assisted with business development initiatives for investment and trade between East Asia and Virginia. Before joining Mason in 2010, he worked at US-China Policy Foundation, a public policy institute in Washington, DC. He has conducted research on Sino-US cultural and political relations and has managed the China Materials Service Center for four years. Gao completed his master’s degree from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, and holds a bachelor’s degree from the School of Management, Fudan University.

Richard Kamenitzer

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Richard Kamenitzer

Chief Financial Officer

Richard Kamenitzer is emeritus Program Director and Associate Professor of Arts Management at George Mason University, where he led the graduate program for nine years prior to his retirement in 2013. He has taught at 8 U.S. colleges and universities, as well as 3 Chinese Universities and 6 Korean universities, and has served as U.S. State Department Cultural Envoy to the Kingdom of Swaziland. Kamenitzer is the 2014 recipient of the Jinx Hazel Award, the highest arts award in Fairfax County, Virginia. Over his 50+ year career, he has been a financial and management executive at numerous colleges, universities, and private educational institutions, and has consulted with dozens of not-for-profit and for-profit entities. He has extensive experience in governance at the board level, and currently serves on the board of the First Alliance Foundation. He has led board and management professional retreats and has consulted with the President of the United States on social programs.

Erik Eging

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Erik Eging

Director of External Communications

Erik Eging is the Director of External Communications at the CIUS Center. He graduated from George Mason University in December 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in Chinese Language and a minor in Global Affairs.  He spent a semester abroad at Tsinghua University as well as participated in a summer language program at Minzu University during his undergrad.  These experiences allowed him insights into the importance of cross cultural exchange as well as the impact that comes from communicating with others in their native tongue.

Abbigail Hull

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Abbigail Hull

Program Associate

Abbigail Hull is a Program Associate at the CIUS Center. She graduated with degrees in Chinese and Psychology at St. Olaf College. During her time as a undergradute she traveled to China three times. She studied at East China Normal Unversity in Shanghai, did research in Lanzhou, and studied in Dalian as a U.S. State Department Critical Language scholar. She also spent a summer as a business manager at a Chinese language summer camp in northern Minnesota through the Concordia Language Village. She is currently attending American University pursuing a Masters in International Development. As a psychology-enthusist, Abbi loves how language can foster connections and build understanding, and is grateful that learning Chinese has given her that perspective. She believes that language acquistion is critical in understanding the problems the world is facing and working together to solve them.

Kiana Duncan

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Kiana Duncan

Communications and Digital Media Associate

Prior to joining the CIUS team, Kiana served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Myanmar, where she lived in rural Magway division and taught at a public secondary school. There, she focused on literacy projects within her community and on growing and organizing the school library, as well as the very beginnings of a school newspaper. She was a media intern for Xi’an International Studies University in China and for Webster University Geneva in Switzerland in 2018, where she focused on international student recruitment and marketing for both universities. Kiana is passionate about intercultural exchange and teaching foreign language in the United States, and about the intersection of foreign language, media literacy, and journalism. She graduated with a degree in journalism from Kent State University in 2018.

Serena Nangia

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Serena Nangia

Programs and Communications Assistant

Serena Nangia is a Program and Communications Assistant at the CIUS Center. She graduated from American University in 2019 with a BA in International Studies, having focused on Peace and Latin American studies. As a content creator and social media manager, Serena has developed and promoted the social media presences of five separate organizational brands from 2018-2020. As a program manager, Serena has successfully planned and executed over a dozen events virtually and in Washington, DC. As an activist, Serena has over seven years experience as a speaker and community leader in the body image and eating disorder fields. In January 2017, Serena founded REbeL at American University (a peer-education organization that addresses disordered eating and body image issues) and has acted as the Alumni Advisor for the club for the past two years. In 2020, Serena presented multiple times on the issues of Fatphobia, Body Activism, and inclusivity regarding eating disorder representation. Serena constantly collaborates with organizations, clinicians, and activists across the country to achieve her life’s mission: 1) to help those with eating disorders and body image issues heal by providing safe spaces for community dialogue and 2) to raise awareness about the complex, and often deadly, consequences of eating disorders and body image issues.

I have been involved with the CIUS Center for two years now, first as an intern and now as an assistant. I love the community which the Center provides me and am so proud to be helping build bridges across cultures.!

Sadie Allen

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Sadie Allen

Digital Media Assistant

Sadie Allen is currently a freshman in the Honors College at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to her enrollment, she took a gap year through UNC’s Global Gap Year Fellowship, which enabled her to volunteer in Xi’an China and Split, Croatia. Now, she is majoring in Global Studies and minoring in Mandarin Chinese. In 2018, she was a CIUS Center People-to-People Honoree and was able to visit China through the Confucius Institute US Center. Sadie grew up in a rural area and loves how language learning can open up the world to oftentimes isolated people. She also loves working to make language learning more accessible to all.

Rick Custer

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Rick Custer

Advisor for External Communication

Rick Custer is a Communications and Marketing consultant with the Confucius Institute U.S. Center. Rick has a master’s degree from the University of Chicago, and he brings to CIUS more than 30 years of experience in managing comprehensive marketing communications and publications programs in higher education, nonprofit associations, for-profit businesses, and public policy institutes.

In his role as Associate Vice President for Communications and Marketing at George Mason University, Rick was responsible for providing general leadership and coordination of all staff operations related to the development of communications and marketing strategies, university publications, photography, videography, and websites. His experience includes managing organizational change and practical knowledge of issues, politics, and decision-making in higher education and nonprofit associations.

Doug Whipple

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Doug Whipple

Doug Whipple

Counsel

Doug led numerous acquisition teams for large public companies while a mergers and acquisitions partner at Jones Day in industries as diverse as automotive, entertainment, banking,  energy, and materials handling. He went on to establish his own practice helping small to mid-sized businesses and nonprofits manage their business risks.  He is admitted to practice in New York, D.C., and Virginia and is a graduate of New York University and Georgetown University Law School. Doug previously studied piano performance at Interlochen Arts Academy and New England Conservatory, and served on the Board of the Arts at George Mason University, where he still supports the arts community.