Dr. Beata Schmid is responsible for the academic programs of EF's International Language Schools. Trained as a linguist--she has a doctorate (Ph.D.) and a Master's (M.A.) degree in Linguistics from Brown University in the USA--she has been teaching English and other languages for more than 25 years. Her research and interests focus on teacher development, computer-aided training, dialectology, and language teaching methodology, as well as differences between first and second language acquisition. Dr. Schmid frequently gives teacher seminars around the world as well as in the short-term teacher training courses at the EF International School of English in Boston, where she is based. Dr. Beata Schmid's commitment to furthering intercultural exchange is not limited to her work--she regularly hosts high school exchange students from all over the world.

Dr. Christopher P. McCormick directs the development of EF’s language testing and training programs. He oversees the instructional design of EF’s educational media, including software, textbooks, video, and audio. He holds a patent in collaborative online language learning technologies and leads the group’s research in language teaching innovation. Prior to joining EF, he taught and administered language programs at the university level, published educational materials, and consulted on language program development. Dr. McCormick holds a B.A. in French and Russian from Tulane University, an M.A. in TEFL from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph. D. in Applied Linguistics also from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was named a University Fellow for his research in the area of multimedia in language instruction.

Dr. Enio Ohmaye oversees the joint venture in Japan between Englishtown and Softbank as well as contributes to the design and oversight of EF’s language learning programs. In addition to being a leading scientist in educational technology, Dr. Ohmaye has extensive international experience in management, marketing, business development, and software development. Dr. Ohmaye has designed and developed pioneering educational software at Englishtown, UNext, Apple Computers, and the Institute for the Learning Sciences (ILS), and holds various patents in online-learning technologies, architectures, and authoring tools. He previously held executive positions at UNext (VP New Business Development), Cognitive Arts (VP Technology), and Apple (Chief Scientist, Director). Dr. Ohmaye holds a B.A. in Business Administration from University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), an M.S. in Computer Science from George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence and Education from Yale and Northwestern University.

Luca Marchiori oversees the academic programs for EF Language Travel / Educational Homestay and contributes editorially to EF’s educational materials and textbooks. He has worked for EF Education First for ten years as a teacher, Director of Studies, teacher trainer and curriculum developer. Luca holds a Master’s (M.Ed.) degree in Educational Technology and English Language Teaching from the University of Manchester, England as well as the Cambridge/RSA Diploma in English Language Teaching to Adults. His areas of particular interest are teacher development / CPD, educational technology and corpus linguistics.

World Council of Language Teaching (WCLT) The World Council of Language Teaching is an international group of scholars, teachers, and language experts convened annually to review EF's language courses and provide guidance on important issues in language teaching worldwide. This panel of distinguished members from countries such as Italy, France, Russia, Vietnam, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Mexico, Austria, and Germany routinely visits our courses in action and provides valuable insight into the needs of language learners today.