Bernard Burrola

Bernie Burrola joined APLU in February 2020 and serves as Vice President of Office for International, Community and Economic Engagement. In this role he provides leadership to the APLU Office of International Programs and the APLU Commission on International Initiatives (CII) and is responsible for strengthening the global engagement and impact of member universities in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Bernie led a five-year bilateral Presidential Initiative to increase higher education partnerships, research collaboration, and student exchange among U.S. and Indonesian universities. He also worked within the Office of Global Educational Programs at the U.S. Department of State to promote U.S. higher education abroad and increase the number of international students studying at American universities.

Earlier in his career, Bernie worked in college admission at Claremont McKenna College and served on the admission committee at the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University. Currently he serves as an application reviewer for the Schwarzman Scholars Program at Tsinghua University in China.

Bernie earned his master’s degree in development economics from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and his bachelor’s degree in international relations from Claremont McKenna College. He is a former Peace Corps Volunteer in Cape Verde, West Africa and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.