Nick L. Poulton, Ph.D. is a Senior Associate with Strategic Initiatives Inc. He is the President and CEO of the Texas International Education Consortium (TIEC), an association of 32 public universities in the State of Texas for international education. He has spent over 30 years in project management and program administration, specializing in strategic planning, policy analysis, institutional design, and financial management. He has advised university presidents and senior officials, both in the U.S. and overseas, on strategic planning, management organization, and administrative operations.

Dr. Poulton has managed international education, training, and development projects for 20 years in more than 15 countries, including nine years in residence in Indonesia, Pakistan, Fiji (and the South Pacific), and Afghanistan (where he participated in developing the first electrical engineering degree at Kabul University, Faculty of Engineering). Dr. Poulton’s involvement in recent projects at TIEC include the design of a private, four-year university in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia; design of a private college for women in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; strategic planning at the University of Qatar; new university feasibility studies in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Senegal; design of the Academic Bridge Program for the Qatar Foundation’s Education City; and higher education management development in Hungary and Morocco.

Specializing in the feasibility, design, and development of new private universities in the Middle East, Dr. Poulton has for the past three years directed 18 consulting teams involving more that 65 faculty and administrative experts in the design, development, and initial operation of Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University that recently opened in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Poulton has held administrative positions to the University of Michigan, Western Michigan University, and Purdue University. He and Dr. Norris are co-authors of A Guide for New Planners, currently in its third edition from the Society for College and University Planning.

Dr. Poulton holds a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and a Ph.D. from the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Michigan. He joined the Texas International Education Consortium in 1997 and has served as its President and CEO since 2000. He has previously served as the Director of University Planning at Western Michigan University, and the Director of Planning and Development at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji.