Alicia de la Peña Portero, Academic Director, Madrid

Dr. Alicia de la Peña is the Director of Academic Affairs in the CEA CAPA Madrid Center. She is responsible for the administration and supervision of all academic aspects of Madrid programs including curriculum development, academic policies compliance, faculty training and students’ guidance. Alicia has worked in higher education for over 25 years, both as a professor and in different managing positions such as Director of Professional and International Projection and Director of Modern Languages Institute for Nebrija Univerity (Madrid) or Resident Program Coordinator for CIEE Madrid. She gained her doctorate in Education from Autónoma de Madrid University for her research on academic literacy, collaborative writing, and formative evaluation. Alicia’s educational background also includes two M.A. from Nebrija University, one in the Teaching of Spanish as a Second Language and another in Applied Linguistics, and a B.A. in English Philology from Autónoma de Madrid University. She was 10 years old when she had her first life-changing study abroad experience in Ireland; then Canada and US followed. Alicia strongly believes that experiencing different places and cultures is essential to gain global perspective, improve self-knowledge and foster personal and professional development.