Student Life

Connie Peterson-Miller
Director
peterson031@gannon.edu
Phone: (814) 871-7030
Fax: (814) 871-5323

My internationalist sensibilities were first awakened on the day I discovered that my dear father did not have a slide whistle lodged in his throat. Rather he was speaking his mother tongue: Norwegian. It was not long after this revelation, then, that I began to pine for the fjords and so made my way from Galesburg, Illinois to the University of Oslo by way of Missoula, Montana. There I studied the the language and the culture, and set forth to greet my many aunts, uncles, and cousins who were settled along the shores of Lake Mjösa. After a time of learning and coffee-klatsching, I ventured out into the Norwegian countryside as a farmhand with the Norwegian Youth Foundation to herd cattle, shovel grain, and pluck up potatoes. I had also hoped to apprentice with a Norwegian shipbuilder who still crafted boats in the way of his Viking ancestors, with little more than a good eye, a steady hand, an adze and a hammer. Alas, this was not to be, and so I returned to America where I studied more languages and cultures at universities ranged across the land from Oregon to Maryland.

These past 20 years I have served as both volunteer and administrator in the field of international student services and intercultural education, most recently in Indiana. My, husband, Chris, will soon be with me here in Erie, but my children, Maeve and Lorcan, are grown and away at school and work. I look forward to learning more about the international community of Gannon University and to the many adventures ahead for which we shall together set our sails!

Matt Brinker
Associate Director
brinker001@gannon.edu
Phone: (814) 871-5356
Fax: (814) 871-5323

Matt Brinker is the Associate Director in the International Student Office. He joined Gannon University in the summer of 2007, moving to Erie with his fiancée, who is attending medical school in town. Born and raised in Cincinnati, OH, Matt attended college at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, during which he studied for two semesters in Germany at the Free University Berlin. He has traveled throughout Europe and Southeast Asia, but wants to see more. For the last couple years, Matt worked for an immigration law firm, helping companies sponsor immigrants for their Green Cards. He is excited to now be able to help students come to the U.S. to study and experience everything the U.S. has to offer.

Mehmet Çultu, PhD., professor of electrical and computer engineering, also has an international background as a native of Turkey. For several years, Dr. Çultu has recruited students from Turkey by traveling there and spreading the word about opportunities at Gannon. Additionally, he has worked closely with the international students, serving as an International Student Advisor, helping internationals adjust to the culture and integrate into a new way of life.