The founder and tour organizer-leader of International Scholar Tours LLC is Peter Gross, an educator who for the past eight years has been teaching homeschoolers, both online and inperson, and who is an enthusiastic world traveler having visited over sixty countries. He also has an extensive background as a leader of international nonprofit organizations, having served as long-time board chair of Plan International USA, a nonprofit that works to improve the opportunities for children and women in the world’s most disadvantaged countries, and he has been a board member of many other organizations, including two professional theaters, a symphony orchestra and numerous organizations that support children’s health and welfare. He has been an attorney and executive, serving as Vice President and General Counsel of HBO and CEO/Founder of a TV-program production company based in Beijing, China. He has served on the board of the Center to Prevent Youth Violence and was Executive Director of Clearwater, an educational and enviromental nonprofit working on New York’s Hudson River.

Peter created International Scholar Tours to combine two of his greatest passions: quality education and authentic travel experiences. His travel philospohy – which focuses on trying to shed the tourist role and trying to experience and absorb authentic local culture – began to form when, as a high-school student, he was an exchange student through the Experiment in International Living in Sweden, and during college, he enrolled as a university student in Brittany, France.

Before founding International Scholar Tours, Peter organized and led group tours of Morocco, Iceland, Cuba, Italy, India, Russia, Sweden and Tanzania.
Peter is an Honors graduate of both Univeristy of Pennsylvania Law School and Yale Univesity, where he was in the Honors English program with additional concentrations in Political Science, Religion and Art History.

 

Here are some comments from parents of his high-school-level students:

• “Peter is one of those rare educators who not only challenges my children to think critically and explore other cultures but creates a personal relationship with them. Peter is a
trusted mentor and teacher who fosters a respectful learning environment and cultivates a culture of intellectual curiosity. His broad knowledge of people and cultures has broadened
my children’s understanding of the world, and they love him for it!” Jamie F.

• “Peter’s depth of knowledge, passion for the subject matter, ingenuity and approachability are what every student deserves. To experience Peter as an academic is to
grow as both a learner and as a human being. A dream come true for both student and parent …he is everyone’s Mr. Holland!” Margurite M.

• “Peter has been an amazing asset to my children’s education. He makes each student feel valued and heard. He also brings a world of knowledge and expertise. He has enriched my
children’s viewpoints of the world in which they live and helped shape them into thoughtful citizens of it.” Andrea R.

• “Peter inspired our daughter to learn; his insights, experience, sense of humor and warmth are immeasurable – He is a Renaissance man.” Lili D.