Dean's Office
Florence Leclerc
Dean
Florence Leclerc is the dean of Parsons Paris. She is also the senior director of Strategic Academic Partnerships and works on both campuses—New York and Paris—of The New School. Leclerc has spent most of her life abroad and currently lives in the United
States and France. She obtained her master's degree in translation from the École de Traduction et d’Interprétation of Geneva, Switzerland, and an MBA in Marketing from SUNY New Paltz. For a number of years, she chaired the Foreign Languages Department
at The New School in New York, where she taught French language and culture at all levels. In 2013, she moved back to France to relaunch Parsons Paris. Leclerc is also an associate professor of foreign languages and a novelist.
Edward S. Mills III
Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, Academic Planning, and Registration
Edward Mills began as the director of Student Life and Advising at The New School Parsons Paris in June 2013, building and heading the offices of Student Life, Student Services, and Academic Advising. Before joining Parsons Paris, Mills served as the
director of Auxiliary and Summer Programs at Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York. Before that, he served for six years as the academic director of the International School of Management in Paris. Mills earned his MA in Political Science at the University
of North Carolina, jointly with Sciences Po, and his BA at Skidmore College. He also completed the Management Development Program at the Harvard Institutes for Higher Education.
Arnaud Hédin
Assistant Director of Faculty Affairs and Academic Planning
Arnaud Hédin studied French as a foreign language (Maîtrise FLE) at the University of Nottingham and the Université Paris V Sorbonne and French literature at the University of Chicago. He holds a Maîtrise in LCE anglais (Université Paris Diderot). He
taught French courses at both the University of Chicago and the University of Chicago Center in Paris and currently teaches French at Parsons Paris.
Guillaume Vidal
Director of Administration and Finance
Guillaume Vidal began working with Parsons Paris in 2013. Since 2024, he has served as director of Administration and Finance, overseeing Parsons Paris' bookkeeping, budget monitoring, and financial statements and assisting in external auditing. Vidal graduated from ESCEM Tours-Poitiers with a master’s degree in auditing and chartered accountancy. His professional experience includes statutory auditing of major insurance groups and service companies with Mazars; serving as senior manager at Primexis, an external accounting firm; and assisting subsidiaries of major international groups in accounting outsourcing, tax compliance, internal control, and preparation of financial statements. In addition to working with Parsons Paris, Vidal has provided assistance to educational groups such as CIEE and St. John's University.
Karen Decter
Associate Director of Personnel Administration and Public Events
Originally from Boston, Karen Decter graduated with a BA in Political Science from Denison University in Ohio. She studied at Sciences Po through the Sweet Briar College Junior Year in Paris program. She moved back to Paris upon graduation and has never
left. Decter has held administrative and project management positions at international companies in the television production, retail, financial guarantee insurance, renewable energy, and real estate management industries in Paris.
Decter also holds a floral arts degree from TECOMAH in Jouy-en-Josas and has worked as a florist at a Parisian palace hotel. She is a triathlete and has been an official Fédération Française de Triathlon (FFTRI) referee for seven years and a volunteer
at Fédération Française d'Athlétisme (FFA) road races for nine years.
Lisa Sarma
Director of Communication and Marketing Initiatives
Lisa Sarma has been leading the Communications and Marketing department of Parsons Paris since 2018, defining and executing its multichannel marketing strategy and developing online, print, and social media content. Sarma gained marketing experience working
for start-ups and brands in the beauty and fashion sectors. Before joining Parsons Paris, she spent eight years at the head of the Digital Marketing department at Givenchy Beauty, part of the LVMH group. Before moving to Paris, she worked in environmental
consulting and communications in San Francisco. Sarma holds degrees in civil and environmental engineering from Columbia University (BS) and Stanford University (MS).
Admission
Mike Fakih
Associate Provost for Enrollment
Mike Fakih has lived in North America, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East and for eight years worked at Sciences Po Paris as director of the Europe-Africa Program and associate director of the Middle East program. His role encompassed project development,
institutional partnerships, and the development of international admissions and promotion. He also taught seminars on corporate social responsibility and media studies. Previously he worked on the founding and launch of an international sustainable
development forum in France and was a journalist in the Middle East. Fakih earned his MPA from Sciences Po and completed an MA and a BA in Political Science at Saginaw Valley State University in the United States.
Laura Fried
Assistant Director of Admissions
Laura Fried graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BA double major in Psychology and Journalism & Mass Communication. Fried previously worked as a pre-college and high school completion advisor at the Academy of Art University
in San Francisco. Before moving to France, she lived and worked in Germany, the Czech Republic, Australia, and New Zealand.
Yun Hye Jang
Admissions Counselor
Originally from South Korea, Yun Hye Jang attended Ewha Womans University in Seoul, where she studied English literature and language. She spent two semesters as an exchange student in Bristol, Tennessee, where she discovered the joy of being surrounded
by people from different cultural backgrounds. She then moved to Lyon, France, to continue to explore the world and stayed there for one semester at University Lyon 3. After finishing her studies, Jang began working at the global research company
TNS. She then took a position as an e-commerce specialist at Air France KLM Korea. In 2016, Jang moved to France and started writing articles about Paris, which were published on the Air France Korea blog. Jang worked as a student life coordinator
at Academic Programs International in Parsons Paris from July 2018 until June 2021; she now works in the Office of Admission at Parsons Paris as an Admission counselor.
Student Success
Hala Dimechkie
Dean of Students
Hala Dimechkie is an international education professional with 20 years’ experience in higher education. Before joining Parsons Paris, she worked at the American University of Beirut (AUB), where she served as the director of the Office of International Programs, a position in which she developed her expertise in international student services, study abroad programs, and institutional partnership development. Before that, Dimechkie spent a number of years in the United States, where she worked in public relations and communications. Dimechkie was raised and educated in the UK, earning her BA at the University of Exeter and her MA in History at AUB. Dimechkie speaks English, French, and Arabic. She is passionate about intercultural communication, teamwork, and harnessing the power of peer-to-peer support.
Virginie Grillet
Director of Career Development and Internships | Alumni Engagement
Originally from Lille, a French city formerly known for its textile industry, Virginie Grillet studied business and harp. After graduating, she worked in marketing as a consultant and in home textiles as a product manager for 15 years. Grillet spent more
than ten years working abroad (in Shanghai, Bangalore, Tokyo, and Düsseldorf), gaining valuable international experience that she is now bringing to Parsons Paris. Before joining Parsons Paris, she searched for young talent and leading figures in
Europe for a Japanese recruitment company. She participated in career fairs, held seminars for students, and prepared them for job interviews at Japanese companies. Grillet is developing a number of student success initiatives and services, including
internship opportunities, events on campus, relationships with employers, student mentoring, and alumni programming.
Emily Jiang-Poulard
Assistant Director of Student Success
Emily Jiang-Poulard joined Parsons Paris as the coordinator of Student Success in August 2018. Before moving to France in 2017, she worked for more than seven years in higher education in the United States, specializing in international education. She
holds an MEd in College Student Personnel Administration and a BS in Special Education from James Madison University. At Parsons Paris, Jiang-Poulard focuses on promoting student development, ensuring academic success, and helping students reach their
potential in an inclusive global learning environment.
Brooke Berndtson
Coordinator of Student Success
Brooke Berndtson brings a decade of expertise in international education in Paris to her current role in Student Success. Before joining Parsons Paris, she held roles as a guidance counselor and as a lecturer in Psychology, Health, and Gender at the American
University of Paris; served as an English Department coordinator at Ecole Internationale Bilingue Monceau; and worked as a self-employed student support specialist for neurodivergent youths. Berndtson holds a Master of Studies in Philosophy from the
University of Oxford, a Master of Science in Mental Health in Children and Young People from the University of Edinburgh, and an Advanced Certificate in Disability Services in Higher Education from the CUNY School of Professional Studies. She is deeply
committed to promoting students' well-being, engaging in disability advocacy, and creating accessible, inclusive multicultural learning environments.
Technology and Campus Resources
Shaen Sellam
Technology Systems and Resources Manager
Dimitri Ghohari
Building and Facilities Manager
Pingfang Tsai
Fashion Studios Technician and Tech/Making Facilities