Meet Our Director
Dr. Eric H. Habegger
Dr. Eric H. Habegger began his journey in international education as a 1st-grade student at CNG in 1967. He later returned to CNG as a MS English and Journalism teacher in 1985 before returning stateside to teach HS English in Fowler, California, where he was named “Teacher of the Year” at Fowler High School in 1989. During that time, he completed his Master’s Degree in Educational Administration in the U.S., and then returned yet again to CNG as HS School Principal for four years before traveling the world with his wife, Lisa (a PS/ES classroom teacher and current MS/HS Library/Media Specialist), and their two children, Jeff and Kelly.
For his postgraduate studies, he earned his doctoral degree from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations (LPO) and, in 2007, Peabody College presented him with the Arville V. Wheeler Prize as the top doctoral graduate.
As an international school educator and administrator for more than 35 years, Dr. Habegger has prior leadership experience working as a secondary principal at the American School of Doha, Qatar, and at Canadian Academy in Kobe, Japan. During the past 20 years, he has served as director at international schools in Venezuela (CIPLC), Paraguay (American School of Asuncion), and currently for 14 years at CNG.
During his years in the region, for his service in helping advance high-quality standards of education across Latin America, AdvancED Corporation, the world’s largest accrediting agency, awarded Dr. Habegger with their "Excellence in Education Award" in 2014. Additionally, as a result of CNG’s continuous improvement efforts, the school earned the highest rating in Latin America for its Index of Education Quality (IEQ) from AdvancED during their evaluation of the school in October 2016. As the most recent recognition of Dr. Habegger’s efforts in overseas education, the American International Schools in the Americas (AMISA) presented him with the 2018 International Education Leadership Award “in recognition of significant contributions to AASSA [now AMISA] and international education."
Beyond his work at CNG, Dr. Habegger served for three years as the representative for Latin America on the College Board International Advisory Committee during the development of the Digital SAT. Finally, he has also served on the boards of AMISA, UNCOLI Bogota, the American Society of Bogota, the Alianza Educativa, and the Colegio Fundación Nueva Granada, the latter two institutions providing comprehensive educational services for over 6,000 highly disadvantaged students in Bogota.