David Vassar has spent the majority of his professional career working with commercial and higher education partners throughout the world, with emphasis on global partnerships. He has an MBA from the Mays School of Business at Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Latin American literature from the University of Virginia. He has served in various senior administrative roles at Rice University and the University of Texas System as an advisor to key university leadership and as an academic director for system-wide US-Mexico activities, respectively. Dr. Vassar has also worked for a variety of companies in his career, including oil and gas producers, a petrochemical service company, a brewery and an IT consultancy. In his current role, he manages a wide-ranging portfolio of professional development programs for both nonprofit and for-profit professionals, including those relevant for financial services, business communication and marketing, management and leadership, paralegal studies, computer and data science, engineering, and nonprofit management.