Our Teachers

Management

Counseling

Chris Bonneau

Director of Counseling

B.S. in Communications from Boston University
Award-winning professional writer

Rob Choi

College Counselor Writing Coach

B. A. in Political Science, University of California, Irvine

Austin Troutt

College Counselor Writing Coach

M.A. in the Art of Teaching, University of California, Irvine
B.A. in Political Science, University of California, Irvine

Laura Hwang

Assistant Director of Counseling

College Counselor

M.A., Social Psychology, San Francisco State University
B.A., Psychology, University of California Irvine

Jack Zhang

STEM College Counselor
Passion Project Coach

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, minor in global engineering studies
M.S. in Product Design from Carnegie Mellon University
Long term study broad at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany (ranked #3 for engineering in Germany)
E.I.T certified engineer

Vanessa Green

College Counselor Writing Coach

M.A., English, UC Irvine
B.A., English with an Honors Minor, Chapman University
California Single Subject Teacher Credential – English

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Mimi Liu

Pre-Med College Counselor

Current Family Medicine resident physician
M.D. from University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine (USF MCOM)
B.S. in Cell and Developmental Biology from University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)

Andy Luong

STEM College Counselor

B.S. in Biochemistry at UCLA
M.S. In Biomedical science at UCSD
Four years of research experience in the Cardio Surgery Lab at UCLA

Firdosi

Wharton-Ali

College Counselor Writing Coach

MFA, Screenwriting, UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television
BA, Political Science (Specialization in American Politics) UCLA
Certification in Screenwriting, Non-degree program, UCLA
TOEFL Certificate

Science & Math

Ben Chen

Director of Mathematics

Curriculum

SAT Mathematics Specialist. More than 50% of Ben's students have achieved perfect SAT II Math scores.
16+ years of SAT teaching experience

Francis Vu

Science & Math Teacher

B.S., Biology, UCLA
ACT, Math & Science, AP Chemistry and Biology

Alan Su

Math Teacher

B.S. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
J.D. Washington University, St. Louis, MO

Catherine Chu

Math Teacher

M.S., Computer Science and mathematics,
Cal State Long Beach
B.S., Health and Nutrition, Taipei Medical University

Mandy Tsai

Math Teacher

Ph.D. study in Toxicology, UCLA (1994-1995)
M.S. Environmental Science, UCLA
B.S. Mathematics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
B.S. Cellular and Molecular Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Andy Luong

Physics & Biochemistry Teacher

B.S. in Biochemistry at UCLA
M.S. In Biomedical science at UCSD
Four years of research experience in the Cardio Surgery Lab at UCLA

Yiching Lio

Math, Chem, Biochemistry

Ph.D. Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego
M.S. Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego
B.S. Chemistry, National Taiwan Normal University

English, Writing & ESL

Michael Lathrop

SAT&ACT Teacher

M.A., English Literature, Portland State University
English Composition Professor, UC Irvine and Irvine Valley College
10 years of SAT/ACT teaching

Kramer Sullivan

English / SAT&ACT Teacher

M.A., Learning and Teaching, University of Redlands
B.A., English, California State University of San Bernardino

Alexandros Vassilakis

English & History Teacher; MUN Coach

MEd, Secondary Education
B.A.,Political and International Studies
Social Science 6-12 Teaching Credential
Supervising Director at THIMUN (Singapore), SPIMUN (St.Petersburg), NHSMUN (New York City), etc

Francesca Santoro

English & Writing Teacher

PhD History, University of Missouri - Columbia
M.A., Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology, University of California, Berkeley
B.A., Classics; B.A., History, University of California, Irvine