Welcome From the President

Sunitha Araamudhu

President – American InterContinental University System

Sunitha Araamudhu was appointed Senior Vice President of the American InterContinental University System in September 2024 and currently holds the position of President of the American InterContinental University System.

Ms. Araamudhu has been a part of the institution since August 2011, contributing to various marketing and operations roles with increasing responsibility. Most recently, she served as the Chief Operating Officer of AIUS, where she evaluated strategies and collaborated across the system to ensure quality outcomes for all constituents. Prior to her tenure at Perdoceo Education Corporation, Araamudhu held the position of Vice President of Marketing at HSBC Bank and was previously employed at Sears Holding Corp.

Ms. Araamudhu holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Master of Science from Cleveland State University.

John Kline

Chancellor

John Kline joined the Company in October 2015 as Senior Vice President – American InterContinental University. Reflecting AIU’s implementation of a university system, Mr. Kline served as Senior Vice President – American InterContinental University System. Mr. Kline currently serves as Chancellor of the American InterContinental University System. Mr. Kline’s career includes executive leadership roles at several other education companies in the US providing solutions to higher education institutions in the areas of marketing, recruiting, and retention of students.

While under Mr. Kline’s guidance, these businesses were able to improve the quality of student outcomes by increasing student success rates while lowering student debt levels.

Mr. Kline received a B.S. degree from Arizona State University.

Dr. Ruki Jayaraman

Provost and Chief Academic Officer

As the Provost and Chief Academic Officer for the American InterContinental University System (AIUS), Dr. Ruki Jayaraman oversees Academic Affairs and curriculum and instruction for online and ground programs. Previously, Dr. Jayaraman was the Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs for the Argosy University system. At Argosy, she also served in the roles of VP of Academic Strategy and Development and the Dean of the College of Undergraduate Studies.

Prior to joining Argosy, Dr. Jayaraman was the Dean of the College of Information Technology at Western Governors University. She has also served in various leadership capacities at Tomax Corporation, and IKON Office Solutions/Education Services, and as a faculty member at the Brigham Young University and University of Utah. She was on the Utah Governor’s Asian American Advisory Council from 1999 – 2003, and is currently serving on the substantive change committee for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). She has over 20 years of active involvement in education, and over 10 years of leadership in the IT sector. Dr. Jayaraman holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Carleton University, Canada.

Mukul Bhalla, Ph.D.

Vice Provost

Dr. Mukul Bhalla serves as the Vice-Provost and oversees all academic affairs for the University, including curriculum and instruction, program quality and assessment of student learning. She also collaborates with other functional areas of the university to ensure smooth implementation of all academic initiatives. She also serves the Dean for the General Education programs at CalSouthern and American InterContinental University.

Originally from India, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Political Science from Lucknow University (India), and a master’s and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Virginia. She has held faculty appointments at institutions serving traditional and non-traditional students, campus-based and online. Over the last two decades, she has served in a diverse range of positions in education administration, such as department chair, dean, vice-president of academic affairs and campus administrator.

Manila Pillai, MCom, MBA

Senior Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis

Ms. Pillai is a principal member of the University’s executive team responsible for maintaining, strategizing, and strengthening the University’s financial processes.