Dr. Lucia B. Hammar is the new director of International Student Services and Programs at California State University, Fresno.

Hammar has more than 20 years of experience in international programs and studies, and taught English as a second language abroad and in the U.S. She has studied, lived and worked in a number of countries, including Germany, Spain, Chile, Korea, Japan and Taiwan. For the last five years at Fresno State, she worked at International Programs as assistant director and then as International Programs director.

In her new role, she will oversee a multicultural staff that assists students from around the world as they apply for admission, arrive at Fresno State, and advance through their studies. She will lead International Student Services and Programs in spreading the word abroad about the education available at Fresno State.

“We are so pleased to have someone with Lucia Hammer’s background and experience take the reins of our International Student Services and Programs office,” said Bernie Vinovrski, associate vice president for Enrollment Services. “We have an excellent reputation overseas because of our location, excellent academic programs and support services offer by the ISSP Office.”

This semester 600 international students from more than 50 countries are enrolled at Fresno State.

“Like their peers from the Valley and the state, students from all over the world come to study and prepare for careers,” Hammar said. “International students often mention how welcoming the Fresno community is, and how much Fresno State faculty and staff care about the students. Through friendships with local students and programs open to the public like the weekly International Coffee Hour on Tuesday afternoons, international students bring the world to Fresno.”

Hammar has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Earlham College in Indiana and a master’s and Ph.D. in Linguistics from Indiana University.

Before joining the Fresno State staff in 2001, she held several positions at Stanford University, including academic program officer for the Overseas Studies Program. She also

was a teacher of English as a second language and teacher trainer at the Sullivan Language School in Berkeley and The American School in Hamburg, Germany.

She received the Outstanding Advisor Award from the Stanford University Undergraduate Advising Center in 1997 and the American Indian Student Appreciation Certificate for excellence in advising at Stanford in 1998.

For more information contained in this release, please go to the following Web site: http://studentaffairs.csufresno.edu/international students/