Nellie Kanjo Gaynor Email & Phone Number

With over 20 years of experience in higher education, I am a strategic leader in graduate student education and admissions, dedicated to recruiting exceptionally talented students and advancing innovative enrollment strategies. Currently serving as the Director of Graduate Studies at Penn Dental Medicine, I oversee master’s programs and leverage creative approaches to achieve ambitious recruitment and matriculation goals.My journey in higher education includes serving as the Associate Director of Admissions at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where I reviewed MBA and dual-degree candidates and played a crucial role in selecting the next class of business students. My tenure at Wharton also allowed me to redesign and modernize the entrepreneurship and innovation curriculum and launch a female founder mentor program, among other impactful initiatives.My diverse background spans high school admissions, undergraduate and graduate admissions, and financial aid. This experience has equipped me with a comprehensive understanding of the higher education ecosystem, enabling me to work closely with students and their families throughout their academic journeys. I have gained invaluable insights into the selective admissions process, from forecasting enrollments to evaluating applications and selecting a talented pool of candidates.As a senior leadership team member at Mistletoe Foundation, I managed the virtual Mistletoe Research Fellowship grant program, providing unrestricted funding to advanced PhD candidates and postdocs in STEM fields.Originally from a small suburb of Chicago, I now reside in New Jersey with my husband, three children, and our yellow Labrador Retriever. In my free time, I enjoy baking and traveling, having explored over 17 countries, and I am eager to add more destinations to my list.Clifton Strengths: communication, achiever, responsibility, discipline, and analytical

Listed skills include Admissions, Higher Education, Student Financial Aid, Enrollment Management, and 18 others.