Cheryl Berman is the Director of the World Languages program at Howard Community College (HCC).  She is also the Director of the StarTalk program at HCC.  She  loves students. Her idea is to always keep students at the center of what you’re doing and you will stay on the right course to help them succeed. She believes that languages need to be taught within culture and that belief led to the creation of the study abroad programs offered through World Languages as well as to the many events where students can get to know the peoples and countries where the different languages are spoken. Bottom line: it’s all about people!

Devi Bengfort has a B.B. in East Studies from Dickenson College and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at George Washington University.  Devi has spent the last two years in Beijing, China working as a Project Manager for an entertainment corporation.  Devi assisted StarTalk during the summer of 2007. 

Shaghaf Hazimet Gleuck has been teaching in the Howard Community College STARTALK program since 2007.  She is currently and adjunct instructor of Arabic at HCC as well as at the American University.  Additionally, she has taught at the Johns Hopkins University.   Shaghaf has been a testing expert for the Defense Language Institute in Monterrey, California and is also a curriculum developer. 

Yulan Liu was born and grew up in Mainland China and came to the United States in August, 1990. She began teaching Chinese in 2007 in Baltimore, Maryland.  She has also involved in written translation and verbal interpretation, and has many clients. She earned her Master of Arts degree and teaches full time at the Grace Bible Baptist Church.  Last summer she joined the Howard Community College as a lab instructor for the Mandarin Chinese class in the StarTalk Program.  In fall 2008 she taught  CHNS 201, Intermediate Mandarin Chinese I to about 18 StarTalk graduates.

Vinnie Rege has been associated with the Hospitality field for over 10 years. He has a proven track record not only in different hospitality establishments, but also in academic settings. Mr. Rege has managed several 5-star restaurant and hotel operations, as well as holding the position of Food Manager with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Currently, Mr. Rege is very active in the hospitality industry and serves on a variety of advisory boards and committees. He is the President of the Metro Council of Hotel Restaurant and Institutional Education (CHRIE) and serves on several boards, such as MHEF (Maryland Hospitality Education Foundation) and GWIB (Governors Workforce Investment Board). Mr. Rege has presented numerous papers in various conferences and workshops in North America, Asia and Europe.

Dr. Rahim Salih holds a Ph.D. Degree in Anthropology (major) Linguistics (Arabic) and Sociology of Development (minors) graduated from University of Bayreuth, Germany in 1999.  He is a professional anthropologist with specialization in Arabic Language & Culture, Middle Eastern History, and Cultural Anthropology taught at Middle Eastern, European, and American Universities. In addition, he has exceptional research skills honed over a decade of research and constancy with NGOs, and UN agencies. He is currently a full-time faculty member at Howard Community College and Adjunct Professor at the American University in Washington DC. Dr. Salih is also a contractor with both IFC of the Word Bank.

Mykael Soo-Tho was born Logan, Utah, but has lived in California and Maryland. He is currently a junior at Wilde Lake High School.  He has been studying Mandarin Chinese for approximately three years. He took Chinese I and II during his freshmen and sophomore years at Wilde Lake and attended the STARTALK I and II programs at HCC. In addition, he enrolled in night courses at HCC for CHNS 201-202 last fall. Mr. Soo-Tho plans on continuing his studies in Chinese by taking CHNS 301-302 next fall.  He will be traveling to China next summer either with "study abroad with HCC" or through an alternate program. 

Lily Y. Tsai, M.Ed.  As an occupational Chinese and English translator, interpreter, language instructional designer, editor, Maryland Certified ESOL and Chinese language instructor, Lily’s professional focus is standards-based education on both Chinese as a foreign language and English as a second language in the U.S. K-12 and college setting.  As a much sought after English-Chinese bilingual translator, interpreter, second/foreign language educator and editor, Lily has translated eight books published in Asia, interpreted for Chinese listeners at international conferences in the U.S., designed K-12 second language learning materials in Taiwan, R.O.C. and worked as a quality assurance editor for the National Foreign Language Centers Read Chinese online learning materials.

Alice Zhang has been teaching Chinese at Howard Community College and is the Director of the Study China Program.  Alice’s expertise in this area includes developing the StarTalk syllabus for Howard Community College, having established the Chinese Immersion Program in the international and public school system, establishing a branch of Confucius Institute of Maryland in the international school, and other related activities.  Professor Zhang holds advanced degrees from Suzhou University, University of Pennsylvania, and Morgan State University.