Holly Bull, Ed.M. - President & Counselor
Holly is one of the original Interim students. When her father, Cornelius Bull, founded the Center for Interim Programs in 1980, she was inspired to take a gap year before college. She followed up on interests in marine biology and Greece and split her year into volunteering at an aquaculture research institute in Hawaii and attending an academic cultural study program in Greece. She came away with a finer appreciation for learning for its own sake without the pressure of tests and grades, and the realization that she did not want to be a marine biologist.
After two years of college, Holly took a second gap year to travel in India and Nepal, attend a semester program in Athens, and engage in service work in Appalachia. Following her B.A. in Anthropology at the University of Virginia, she joined her father in his work at Interim and began counseling students through their own gap-year experiences. For two years, she also directed the USA office for her original program in Greece. After completing the Masters in Education, Holly continued her counseling work at Interim and since then has interspersed counseling with travel to visit programs in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, Europe, and Turkey. She has also attended a number of 2-4 week programs: a wilderness survival skills school, a humpback whale research project, dude ranch work, and a yoga teacher training course.
Kate Warren - Research Director
& Counselor
Kate's colleagues refer to her as a "super sleuth" in recognition of her steadfast quest to locate new gap year opportunities worldwide; her due diligence on programs is unparalleled. With background training in sociology at the College of New Jersey, she works in tandem with Holly matching students' interests with vetted and appropriate programs as they embark on their journeys of exploration and personal growth.
Complementing her professional life, Kate has held many civic volunteer positions and has a passion for music. She is Chair of the Princeton Affordable Housing Board, former secretary of the Witherspoon Jackson Development Corporation Board of Directors, former Chair of the Housing Authority of the Borough of Princeton Board of Commissioners, a life member of both the NJ State Firemen Ladies Auxiliary and Mercer County Firemen Ladies Auxiliary, and President of her local auxiliary, as well as past Vice President of the County auxiliary. Kate is politically active, having run for public office on several occasions. And, in addition to having been a member of several choral groups, she fulfilled a lifelong ambition to perform at Carnegie Hall as well as play Mother Ginger in "The Nutcracker."
Walter J. Krieg - Technology Director
Walter first became acquainted with the Center for Interim Programs in the 1980s. He was, however, drawn to the idea of gap time before it had a name in the U.S. when he became a "stepaway" gap year student following his freshman year in college. During this gap year, he tried different internship-type jobs until fellow workers counseled him to return to college where he majored in science and technology. He then gained another degree in computers and began serving local clients in Princeton.
As the father of a gap year student, Walter has witnessed the practical benefits of gap time. His daughter's gap year helped her obtain her job with IBM given the skills and experiences she brought to the interview process. Walter has spoken eloquently from his own gap year experience and as a gap year parent to prospective families at gap year fairs and school presentations.