Rajika Bhandari, Ph.D., is a scholar-practitioner in international higher education and the Principal of Rajika Bhandari Advisors, an international education research and strategy firm that partners with nonprofits, multilateral organizations, and higher education institutions. Quoted frequently in the global press, Dr. Bhandari is also a widely published author and speaker on issues of international students and international education, the global competition for talent, skilled immigrants, and educational and cultural diplomacy. She is the author of the award-winning memoir, America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility, which chronicles her journey as an international student from India and is described as a “must read for anyone on a U.S. campus,” and the host of the World Wise podcast on education, culture, and migration. An expert on U.S.-India higher education relations, Dr. Bhandari is the co-founder of SouthAsia-IEN, the South Asia International Education Network. She previously spent over a decade at the Institute of International Education (IIE), where she led the research, evaluation, and thought leadership portfolio. She has also served on the US National Commission to UNESCO, and as an adjunct professor at Teachers College. In 2024, Dr. Bhandari was appointed to the National Academy for International Education and in 2025 received the inaugural John and Anne Hudzik Prize for Sustained Leadership in Higher Education Internationalization from NAFSA. Learn more about her work at www.rajikabhandari.com.