Lavern Samuels

Director of International Education and Partnerships; President of IEASA

Durban University of Technology; International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA)

Dr. Lavern Samuels is a dental surgeon and medical scientist with a special interest in oral medicine and broader public health. Currently, he serves as the Director of International Education and Partnerships (IEP) at the Durban University of Technology (DUT). Dr. Samuels is also the President of the International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA), a position he previously held between 2012 and 2014. Further to this, he also served as the Chair of the IEASA Directors Forum. In addition, he is the Chair of the Southern African Nordic Centre(SANORD), a consortium of 60 universities across 15 countries from the Southern African and Nordic regions. Dr. Samuels is also a member of the Board of the International Virtual Exchange Consortium (IVEC) and represents South Africa on the Network of International Education Associations (NIEA), the peak global body for international education associations. Currently, he also serves as a Board Member of the International Centre for Non-Violence (ICON) and the ML Sultan Charitable and Educational Trust.

Having come from the field of Health Science, Dr. Samuels has served as the academic head of the Departments of Dental Sciences and Environmental Health as well as being Deputy Dean and Acting Executive Dean in the DUT Faculty of Health Sciences. Dr. Samuels served a five year term as a board member of the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). He also served five years on the Foreign Qualifications Committee of the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).