Began at CAIS in 2010

Head of School Jeff Bissell came to CAIS after 11 years as Director of School Year Abroad in Beijing, China. Prior to that he served as Adjunct Professor of Chinese Language at Marquette University and teacher at Shenyang University of Technology in Liaonin Province, China; Nicolet High School in Milwaukee, WI; and Waupun High School in Waupun, WI. Dr. Bissell currently serves on the boards of the California Teacher Development Collaborative; Keystone Academy in Beijing, China; Chinese Early Language Immersion Network at Asia Society (CELIN); and the 1990 Institute. Past board service includes The Mandarin Institute, Western Academy of Beijing and the JUMP! Foundation.

He was named to the task force for the 1 Million Strong initiative spearheaded by Presidents Barack Obama and Xi Jinping to expand to 1 million the number of US K-12 students studying Mandarin by 2020.

HONORS AND AWARDS

THE ASIANWEEK FOUNDATION, ASIAN HERITAGE STREET CELEBRATION SCHOOL AWARD, 2012 For dedication, excellence and achievement in promoting cross cultural diversity
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE, BUREAU OF EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS, FULBRIGHT FELLOWSHIP, 1994-1995 For doctoral research in Taipei, Taiwan
US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND AREA STUDIES (FLAS) FELLOWSHIP, 1993-1994 For doctoral research
US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, FLAS FELLOWSHIP, 1993 For graduate studies
US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FLAS FELLOWSHIP, 1993 For intensive summer session Japanese study
COMMITTEE ON INTERCOLLEGIATE COOPERATION FELLOWSHIP 1992 For intensive summer session Japanese study
US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, FLAS FELLOWSHIP, 1991-1992 For graduate studies

ADDITIONAL EDUCATION

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY 清华大学, Beijing China
Senior Scholar Program at Inter-University Program (IUP) for Chinese Language Studies, Summer 2014

LIAONING NORMAL UNIVERSITY 辽宁师范大学, Dalian, Liaoning Province, China Advanced Chinese language studies, 1989