TUJ LEAD Executive Committee

Tina H. Saunders

Director / Associate Professor of Instruction in Law / Temple University Beasley School of Law
Professor Saunders received her law degree from the University of Maryland Carey School of Law, and her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science with a minor in Business Administration from Howard University. Following law school, she served as a law clerk for Judge Lynne A. Battaglia at the Maryland Court of Appeals. She then entered private practice, working at Venable LLP in Baltimore, Maryland, where she focused on commercial and product liability litigation.

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Nicole Despres

She/Her
Assistant Dean of Students
The Assistant Dean of Students oversees the day-to-day operation of and quality of services provided by OSSE. She also works with upper administration, student government, and other university departments to implement school policies.

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Luis Navarro García

He/Him
Director of Student Engagement
The Director of Student Engagement overseas the general operations of Student Engagement. These are centered in improving student life within the school community through activities, clubs and organizations, and other initiatives within Temple University, Japan Campus. He also supervises the Student Government together with the Assistant Dean of Students.

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Tomoko Matsui

She/Her
Student Engagement Coordinator
Greetings! My name is Tomoko Matsui, and I’m a member of the TUJ LEAD Executive Board. For TUJ LEAD, I'm primarily responsible for TUJ LEAD Fellows recruitment, Welcome Week session support, monthly meeting preparation, and event planning support together with the TUJ LEAD Fellows team. I’m passionate about fostering an inclusive community where students have a sense of belonging at TUJ by partnering with TUJ LEAD Fellows and Executive Board teams.  If you’re interested in our initiatives, feel free to contact us at

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Karl Neubert

Any/ Any pronouns
Associate Professor in Communication Studies, Film & Media Arts
Karl Neubert is an award-winning filmmaker whose expertise includes all aspects and genres of film and TV production, as well as film theory, the history of U.S. and Japanese cinema, event organization, subtitling and Japanese culture. 

Neubert has taught entry, intermediate, and advanced-level film production courses, as well as special topic-based classes on subjects such as U.S. cinema, alternative cinema, music video and the portrayal of cis and transgender women in the media. He is also the director of Temple University, Japan's Student Film Festival.

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Sarajean Rossitto

Adjunct Associate Professor in Asian Studies
An accomplished performer, presenter and workshop facilitator, Sarajean's work centers around developing skills, knowledge and effective partnerships between organizations and across borders in order to affect social change. Sarajean has worked with grassroots and international organizations on programs impacting disaster response and preparation, gender, poverty, inclusion, human rights, conflict mediation, community health, cross-cultural communication, at-risk youth, gender-based violence, persons with diverse abilities, and HIV/AIDS. Sarajean currently teaches about US social movements, Japanese civil society, gender and conflict management at Temple University Japan Campus and about NGOs in cross-cultural context and project management at Sophia University. A life-long activist, Sarajean works with US citizens across the globe attempting to impact US policy. Sarajean serves as a board member of several nonprofit and educational organizations including Asian Rural Institute, Mirai no Mori, Place to Grow and Democrats Abroad. For most of the year, on weekends, vegetable gardening and cooking take up any remaining free time.

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