Title: President
Company: Association of International Education Administrators
Location: Grand Ledge, Michigan, United States
Paulo Zagalo-Melo, PhD, President at the Association of International Education Administrators, has been recognized by Marquis Who’s Who Top Educators for dedication, achievements and leadership in Higher Education Administration.
Dr. Zagalo-Melo has established a distinguished career spanning more than three decades in international education, global engagement and higher education leadership. Since 2024, he has served as a senior internationalization strategist at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, where he leads the institution’s internationalization strategy and global partnership development. In this capacity, Dr. Zagalo-Melo collaborates closely with top university leadership to craft and implement data-driven internationalization strategies, traveling globally to identify and cultivate partnerships with universities that align with Virginia Commonwealth University’s objectives. His responsibilities also include overseeing the analytical and strategic components that underpin these efforts.
In addition to his role at Virginia Commonwealth University, Dr. Zagalo-Melo has served as the president of the Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA) since 2025, after serving as the president-elect from 2024 to 2025 and as a board member and chair of the member outreach and awards committee between 2021 and 2024. In these capacities, he has worked alongside the chief executive officer on initiatives such as institutional rebranding, financial sustainability, strategic budgeting, and the enhancement of collaboration with peer organizations in the U.S. and internationally.
Leveraging many years of success, Dr. Zagalo-Melo was the associate provost at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo between 2017 and 2024, where he managed a $10 million international office and played a pivotal role in expanding the university’s global footprint. His tenure was marked by deepened engagement within the international education community, including service on several boards and committees.
Before his work at Western Michigan University, Dr. Zagalo-Melo was the associate provost for global education at the University of Montana in Missoula from 2014 to 2017. This leadership role followed teaching as an associate professor of international education leadership and as the director of the Global Engagement Office on campus between 2013 and 2017. These roles provided Dr. Zagalo-Melo with valuable experience in teaching, international higher education administration, and academic leadership.
Dr. Zagalo-Melo’s academic career included a previous appointment as an invited professor at the Catholic University of Portugal between 2009 and 2012 and as a visiting scholar in political science at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 2008, 2009 and 2011. From 2006 to 2013, he directed science, technology and innovation initiatives at the Luso-American Development Foundation in Portugal. During this period, Dr. Zagalo-Melo balanced professional responsibilities with doctoral research, split between Portugal and Boulder.
Dr. Zagalo-Melo’s early career was shaped by his tenure at the Fulbright Commission in Portugal, where he served as an administrative officer from 1993 to 1996, then as an executive director until 2006. Notably, he was appointed as the youngest executive director in the commission’s history at age 27, a milestone that significantly influenced his professional trajectory and led to frequent travel between Portugal and the U.S. Dr. Zagalo-Melo launched his professional journey in the corporate sector as a senior accountant at Ernst & Young in Lisbon, Portugal, between 1991 and 1993, following college.
Dr. Zagalo-Melo’s academic achievements have been instrumental in shaping his success. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from ISCAL-Lisbon Accounting and Business School in 1992, followed by a second undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Business Administration and Management, from European University in Lisbon, in 1996. Dr. Zagalo-Melo later attended college in the U.S., acquiring a Master of Public Administration with a focus on ethics, nonprofits, democracy and governance from Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 2004. Notably, the U.S. Department of State funded his master’s degree through a competitive fellowship that required him to return to Fulbright upon graduation. Furthermore, Dr. Zagalo-Melo acquired a Doctor of Philosophy in political science and government from the Portuguese Catholic University in Lisbon in 2012.
Active in his professional community, Dr. Zagalo-Melo maintains affiliation with several leading organizations in his field, including the Association of International Education Administrators, the NAFSA: Association of International Educators, the European Association of International Education and the Institute of International Education. He is also an accomplished author and editor. Among Dr. Zagalo-Melo’s publications is ‘The Fulbright Brainstorms on Bioethics: Frontiers and New Challenges,’ published by Principia in São João do Estoril, Cascais. Moreover, he has spoken publicly, delivering his first TEDx talk.
Throughout his career, Dr. Zagalo-Melo has developed recognized expertise in international education, global engagement, political science, political theory and European Union studies. As a first-generation college student whose family had limited educational opportunities under Portugal’s mid-20th-century dictatorship, he is especially grateful for his graduate education. This personal history has fueled his commitment to advancing educational access and excellence. Mentorship has also played a significant role throughout Dr. Zagalo-Melo’s journey, with several influential figures providing guidance.
Dr. Zagalo-Melo’s contributions have been recognized through honors such as being named an Association of International Education Administrators presidential fellow for 2015 to 2016 and receiving a fellowship from the Colorado European Union Center of Excellence. Looking ahead, he is dedicated to advancing international education, furthering leadership in the field, and helping organizations recognize their critical role in higher education, cross-cultural understanding, economic development and business innovation.
For more information, please visit:
Contact Dr. Zagalo-Melo: