Ambrin MasoodAmbrin Masood, Ph.D., LCPC

Assistant Professor, Rehabilitation and Human Services, CHPS

Encouraging, committed, and inspiring are a few words one can use to describe how Ambrin Masood, Ph.D., cares for international students at MSU Billings. It is for these efforts that she is this year’s Promoting International Student Success Award recipient.

Masood plays an active role in the Billings Friendship Family program, coordinated by the Office of International Studies. Masood stepped up in a time of need to host four international students through BFF; making each student feel welcome and helping acclimate them to a new environment and country where they are pursuing their higher education.

Masood not only advises international students in the master’s program; she is also known for her mentorship of international students and serves as a trusted resource for them. One student shared that she would not have survived the program if not for Masood’s encouragement, counseling, and mentorship.

By expanding her graduate level coursework for the Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling program to include a hybrid format, she encourages participation of international students and helps them continue their pursuit of their education at MSU Billings.

Masood understands the challenges international students face as she was one herself, coming to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in experimental psychology in 2000. She did not stop there and went on to earn a doctorate in school psychology in 2009. Masood came to MSU Billings in 2016 as an assistant professor in the Department of Rehabilitation and Human Services.

“Her passion for mentorship and empathy toward others is inspiring,” shares a colleague. “She is a frequent advocator for internationalization efforts and always seems to have the interest of students, both international and domestic, as her top priority.”