Gary Giss is the Dean of International Programs in Southeast Asia for Keuka College (New York, USA) and has lived full-time in Asia for over ten years. He is an Associate Professor of Management for Keuka College and an instructor of Psychology for the State of Connecticut, in their online college program. Giss taught master’s level courses for Boston University for several years, as well as bachelor’s level courses in both psychology and business at many other universities in the USA. In Vietnam, he teaches at Vietnam National University – International School in Hanoi, Vietnam National University – University of Science in HCMC, Duy Tan University in Danang, and Fulbright University Vietnam in HCMC. Giss previously lived and taught in China for several years at Yunnan University of Finance and Economics (Kunming), Tianjin University of Science, Chengyi University (Jimei, Xiamen), and Wenzhou University.
Giss possesses a master’s degree in Psychology with a specialty in Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, a Master of Counseling specializing in Community Counseling, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Global Management, and bachelor’s degrees in both Anthropology and Psychology (Arizona State University, USA). He has conducted research in Vietnam, co-authoring a paper published in the Empirical Economics Review entitled, “Exploring regional differences in cultural values involved in creating Vietnam’s emerging economy” (June 2020). Giss is interested in the intersection of psychology, anthropology, and business, including the topics of behavioral economics, consumer behavior, culture, management, and leadership. He is currently completing his Ph.D. in business administration, focusing his dissertation on consumer behavior in relation to perceptions of corporate social responsibility.
Giss has several years of experience as a mental health professional (a psychotherapist and a Clinical Director), providing psychotherapy to individuals, couples, families, and providing group therapy (working in the areas of severe mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, anger management, and much more, working with court-mandated clients, private pay clients, in inner city clinics, psychiatric hospitals, and in the Department of Juvenile Corrections). He has been teaching psychology at the university level continuously for the past 18 years.
In addition to his private sector work, Giss has worked at various levels of the public sector, working for the city, county, and state-level governments in education, corrections, and public service. He also has experience as a lobbyist, serving a national Political Action Committee (PAC), where he directly lobbied U.S. government officials (senators and congress members) in Washington D.C., and he also served as a campus chair to a major international philanthropic organization.
Giss’s personal interests include many outdoor sporting activities and global travel. He has been to 50 countries so far, on all inhabited continents. His love for global travel began when he was an undergraduate student and studied abroad in Europe for two years, in both London, U.K., and Vienna, Austria. During that time he visited the homes of famed psychology pioneer Sigmund Freud (both in Vienna and London) and many other sites of interest. Studying abroad was a very impressionable experience for Giss and a big reason he moved abroad and has been deeply involved in global education. Giss is a strong believer in lifelong learning.
