Dear Colleagues:
I am pleased to announce that Michelle D. Young, Ph.D., will be the next dean of our LMU School of Education. After considering many factors, including recommendations and feedback from our search committee, the Committee on Rank and Tenure, our faculty, and senior leadership, I am confident that Dean Young, a renowned leader, an influential scholar, and purposeful educator, will build upon the SOE’s national reputation for excellence and chart its ambitious course for an exciting future. She will succeed Interim Dean Mary McCullough on June 1, 2020. I commend and thank Dean McCullough for her leadership over this past year and in the year ahead.
Dean Young joins us from the University of Virginia where she is the executive director of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) and a professor and chair of Educational Leadership, Foundations and Policy. Her scholarship focuses on the development of school leaders and policies that support equitable and quality experiences for all students and adults who learn and work in schools. Among Dean Young’s myriad accomplishments, she has edited two editions of the Handbook of Research on the Education of School Leaders, chaired the effort to develop the National Educational Leadership Preparation standards, which guides the development and accreditation review of educational leadership preparation programs, and was recently awarded the prestigious Edwin M. Bridges Award for her contributions to research on the preparation of education leaders. She also serves on several national policy and academic boards, including as president of the National Policy Board for Educational Administration. Dean Young’s bold leadership and exceptional teaching have earned her numerous academic awards and recognitions.
As the chief executive of UCEA, an international consortium of research institutions with master- and doctoral-level programs in educational leadership, Dean Young works with universities, practitioners, professional organizations, and state and national leaders to improve the preparation and practice of school system leaders and to develop a dynamic base of knowledge on excellence in educational leadership. She has been instrumental in increasing the focus of research on leadership preparation and in bringing research to bear on the work of educational leadership faculty members and policymakers. Indeed, Dean Young’s professional expertise coupled with her passion for leadership preparation make her the ideal fit for LMU’s SOE.
Prior to joining UVA as professor, Dean Young was on the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin, as associate professor of educational leadership and policy in the Department of Educational Administration. At the University of Missouri-Columbia, she was an associate research professor for Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. Dean Young earned her Ph.D. in educational policy and planning and her M.Ed. in special education from the University of Texas at Austin, and her B.A. in sociology at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.
Dean Young’s family includes her husband, Derek Young, and her two sons, Ethan and Aden. Her personal interests include running, reading, movies, and travel.
I thank our search committee, chaired by Robbin Crabtree, dean for the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, for conducting a rigorous and comprehensive search that yielded a competitive and outstanding candidate pool. Their professionalism and engagement provided me with invaluable insights during the decision-making process.
I look forward to Dean Young visiting our campus again to meet faculty, staff, and students. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating Michelle and welcoming our newest Lion to our SOE and LMU community.
Sincerely,
Thomas Poon, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Provost
LMU SOE Dean Search Committee
Robbin Crabtree (chair), dean, Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts
Heather Alexander, senior director of Human Resources
Kathy Ash, executive director of development, Principal Gifts
Jennifer Belichesky-Larson, assistant dean of students
Jill Bickett, clinical professor and director, Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership for Social Justice
Ernesto Colín, associate professor, Specialized Programs in Urban Education
Franca Dell’Olio, associate professor, Educational Leadership for Social Justice
David DeVito, trustee
Darin Early, director of the LMU Family of Schools
Deb Estes, SOE Board of Visitors
Christina Eubanks-Turner, associate professor, mathematics, member of University-Wide Teacher Education Committee
Maureen Kindel, LMU regent emerita and SOE Board of Visitors chair
Magaly Lavadenz, distinguished professor of English Learner Policy, Research and Practice
Edmundo Litton, professor and chair, Specialized Programs in Urban Education
Martha McCarthy, President’s Professor, Educational Leadership for Social Justice
William D. Parham, professor and chair, Educational Support Services
Ani Shabazian, associate professor, Elementary and Secondary Education and director for LMUCC
Ernald Andal, S.J., graduate student
