Forty two college and university administrators from 22 countries participated in the inaugural round of the EducationUSA Leadership Institutes, a new initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). The goal of the Leadership Institutes is to increase understanding of U.S. higher education and provide a unique opportunity for reciprocal knowledge exchange between the United States and participating countries. The first three EducationUSA Leadership Institutes hosted a group of 12 to15 foreign college or university administrators or government officials, who were selected from a highly-qualified and competitive pool of applicants. Mr. Manzur H Khan, Director, OSA of AIUB has been selected as a participant of the inaugural EducationUSA Leadership Institutes on Private-Industry Sector Linkages & Innovation Study Colorado hosted the Private-Industry Sector Linkages & Innovation Leadership Institute to provide 15 participants with an opportunity to explore the collaboration between higher education and the private sector around workforce development, R&D, and curricular reform. The other two institutes were on Quality Assurance and Accreditation Leadership hosted by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) in Washington, D.C. and Campus Internationalization: Institutional Structures to Support Inbound and Outbound Student Mobility hosted by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The program was inaugurated at International Institute of Education (IIE) on behalf of EducationUSA on February 11, 2015 in Washington DC. Ms. Kelly Keiderling, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and Ms. Meghann Curtis Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs addressed the group on February 13, 2015. During the academic residency, Mr. Manzur was hosted by Study Colorado and visited University of Colorado Denver (UCD), JP Morgan Commodities Center and Risk Management Program, Red Rocks Community College, IDEA Lab Student Innovation Projects, Arapahoe Community College (ACC), University of Colorado- Colorado Springs, University of Northern Colorado- Greeley, Monfort College of Business/BizHub, Colorado State University- Fort Collins, CSU Ventures, University of Colorado Boulder, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) from February 14 – 24, 2015. In Denver, the Private-Industry Sector Linkages & Innovation Leadership Institute group was welcomed by Lt. Governor of Colorado Mr. Joe Garcia. The other participants of the group were: Ricardo Rotoras, President, Mindanao University of Science and Technology (MUST) & Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges Tuyet  Vu, Vice Director of International Cooperation Department, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Vietnam Hoang Vu, Vice Rector, University of Science, Vietnam National University Md Mizanur Rahman, Associate Professor, Department of Accounting and Information Systems, University of Dhaka & Representative of UGC, Bangladesh Cristina Russi Guimarães Furtado, Associate Professor at the Chemistry Institute and Director of the International Cooperation Department, Rio de Janiero State University, Brasil Diana Margarita Perez Camacho, Deputy Director for Management Support, HEI, Ministry of Education, Colombia Lawrence Atepor, Rector, Cape Coast Polytechnic, Ghana Haruna Yakubu, Vice Chancellor, University of Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana Shalini, Head of Higher Education, Confederation of Indian Industry Madhavilatha Makkena, Director, Innovative Technologies & Professor of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad, India Montserrat Munoz David, Director of Bilateral Relations, Office of International Affairs, Ministry of Public Education, Mexico Dianne Vargas Carballo, Senior International Officer, Universidad Tecnológica de Xicotepec de Juárez, Mexico Marlin Fransman, Contracts/ Legal Manager, Technology Transfer Office, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa