Julie Matsubara is the Director of the English Language Institute, where she manages a team of ESL/EAL Language Pedagogy Specialists and oversees program operations. She also maintains open communications with key administrative members of the twelve divisions and schools around campus and other partner offices such as UChicagoGRAD and the Writing Program. Julie has extensive experience teaching English as an additional language (EAL) in Japan and the U.S. and transitioned to a managerial role starting in 2009. In her free time, Julie likes to explore the Chicago neighborhoods and discover new restaurants.

As the Operations Manager, Amanda Samawi’s responsibilities include overseeing logistical and operational support for the English Language Institute, including supervising class registration, overseeing the ESL/EAL Writing Tutor Program, and marketing and social media. Amanda earned a BA in English Literary and Arabic Studies from DePaul University and an MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Before joining the ELI, she was teaching ESL at Harold Washington College and working at UChicago Medicine as a fellowship program administrator. Her interests include reading, cooking, and diving into a good podcast.

Paul Quaintance’s passion for communication, language, and linguistics led him to teaching, and in 2009 he received an MA in linguistics from Northeastern Illinois University. As a graduate assistant there, he specialized in improving the academic writing of non-native and generation 1.5 writers. Before joining the staff at UChicago’s English Language Institute (ELI), Paul worked at number of universities and colleges in the Chicago area. Paul holds a BA in theatre arts from New Mexico State University and has worked professionally on stage and on camera. He enjoys offering his ESL students an actor’s perspective on expressive and comprehensible vocal production.

Joshua Ruddy is fascinated by language’s ability to defy physics– the written word can travel through time and space in ways that nothing else can. He has a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, Literature and Philosophy from Marquette University, an MFA in Poetry from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Illinois at Chicago. As an instructor at the English Language Institute, he enjoys travelling the world every day without ever leaving Chicago.