Dominic Romeo
Dominic Romeo: Founder, CEO
Dominic Romeo graduated with high honors in Political Science and Chinese from the University of Notre Dame. After being accepted into Notre Dame, University of Chicago, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Oxford, he ultimately chose Notre Dame because the sporting and academic rigors suited him well. While in college, Romeo was granted a number of awards—both regionally, nationally, and internationally—for his excellence in scholarship, service, and mentorship. He served as the president of Phi Beta Kappa, the political science honors society, founded Notre Dame’s Chinese language club, and established a partnership between American Universities and impoverished villages in Guizhou. Some of the most notable of his awards were a Princeton in Asia Fellowship, a Blakemore Fellowship, and selection onto the Allstate Good Works Team.
Romeo has been successful due in large part to the mentors who have compassionately offered him guidance. His desire to provide a similar assistance to Chinese students, combined with his fluency in Mandarin, is what motivates his work. Over the past five years, Romeo has helped Chinese students gain admittance into their dream schools such as Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Duke, Notre Dame, and many more.
Connor Mangan
Connor Mangan: Director of Counseling
Connor Mangan graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard University with a major in Neurobiology and a minor in East Asian Studies and Chinese. He is currently spending a year in Hangzhou, China, researching infectious diseases at Zhejiang University. While at Harvard, Connor was a four-year varsity rower and national champion on the rowing team. He was also the chair of the Leadership Institute at Harvard College, and did a great deal of volunteering work.
In addition to Harvard, Connor was accepted at Yale, Dartmouth, Georgetown, and the University of Virginia, and is very knowledgeable about the US application process. Students he has worked with have been accepted to Harvard, Dartmouth, Georgetown, and others. Connor is the oldest of six kids, and enjoys exercising, reading, studying Chinese, and playing outside. Three of his younger brothers have also been to China, and two of them are currently studying Chinese.
This spring, his family is hosting a Chinese student who is currently attending Canisius High School. Connor is very eager to help Chinese students and parents better understand the US high school and college environment, so that they can have an exciting, fun, and rewarding time while studying in the US. Next fall, Connor will head to Oxford University in the UK for a Masters in International Relations.
Deanna Kolberg
Deanna Kolberg: Director of Graduate Admissions
Deanna Kolberg graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Notre Dame with double majors in International Relations and Chinese. She completed a field-work based thesis for her honors designation in her major and was awarded a $2000 prize for excellence in statistics. She was also honored as the Liu Family Scholar of Asian Studies, in addition to being inducted into Pi Sigma Alpha (for political science) and Phi Beta Kappa.
During her time as an undergraduate, Deanna participated in a variety of University-sponsored programs for research and internships in seven different countries and was an active member of the Notre Dame women’s rugby team, which competed for the national championship. She was responsible for initiating a University-run post-baccalaureate program to assist students in their application for named scholarship such as Rhodes and Fulbright. She also served on an advisory committee for the University of Notre Dame’s International Institute, and worked as a research assistant to a professor for four consecutive years as a Kellogg Institute International Scholar.
Following graduation, Deanna received a Fulbright award from the U.S. State Department for cultural ambassadorship in South Korea. Currently, Deanna is pursuing a PhD at the University of Michigan, the fourth ranked graduate program in political science. As a graduate student, she has received a year-long fellowship for the study of foreign languages from the U.S. Department of Education. She has mentored and assisted dozens of students in their applications to graduate school and fellowship programs.
John Fox
John Fox: Chair: Undergraduate Advisory Committee Leader
John Fox is a current Senior at the University of Notre Dame majoring in Chinese Language and Asian Studies. His studies abroad have twice taken him to Peking University where he enjoys basketball, photography, and traveling. As an undergraduate student, John received the Suzanne and Walter Scott merit scholarship and is a member of the Glynn Honors Program at Notre Dame. As a high school student, John received a perfect 36 on the ACT as well as nine perfect '5's' on his nine AP tests, ranging from Calculus and Physics to Spanish and English. He looks forward to working with students to help them reach their potential in various tests and in writing.
