Dr. Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher began her tenure as the Renée and Richard Goldman Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Education on May 1, 2024.
An accomplished scholar, her work focuses on equitable participation in higher education; transfer, access, and retention policies; minoritized student populations in marginalized institutional contexts; and racial equity and campus climate in postsecondary education pathways.
Previously, Zamani-Gallaher served as the Associate Dean for Equity, Justice, and Strategic Partnerships in the School of Education. In this role, she advanced the school-wide strategy for equitable partnerships, which included partnering with colleagues to further deepen teaching, strengthen existing and propose new programmatic offerings, and reimagine the school’s ongoing engagements. Additionally, Dr. Zamani-Gallaher served as Interim Dean of the school from August 2023-May 2024.
As a researcher, Zamani-Gallaher has amassed approximately $11 million in external funding on projects aimed at improving the field of higher education. The Lumina Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and National Science Foundation are among the organizations to fund her research.
In addition to her work at Pitt, Zamani-Gallaher is a leader in a variety of professional organizations. She is executive director of the Council for the Study of Community Colleges, a national organization for university-based researchers and community college practitioners who further scholarship for community colleges. Additionally, she is a member of the Community College Review Editorial Board, an advisory board member for the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, and a member of the Black Learner Excellence Expert Advisory Committee.
Prior to joining Pitt, Zamani-Gallaher was a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Education, where she spent seven years as director of the Office for Community College Research and Leadership. While there, she also worked as an associate dean of the Graduate College and associate head of the Department of Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership.
Among her numerous awards and recognitions, Zamani-Gallaher was selected as an American Educational Research Association Fellow and was named a 2023 American College Personnel Association Senior Scholar Diplomate.
Zamani-Gallaher holds a PhD in educational organization and leadership from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an MS in general experimental psychology and BS in psychology from Western Illinois University.
Broadening equitable participation in two- and four-year institutions
Transfer, access, and retention policies in higher education
Minoritized student populations in marginalized institutional contexts
Racial equity and campus climate in postsecondary education pathways
Turner, F., Yeo, H. T., Zamani-Gallaher, E. M. (2022). Mentoring Graduate students of color and international graduate students. In D. J. Nguyen & C.W. Yao (Eds.), A handbook for supporting today’s graduate students. Stylus Publishing.
Burn, H., Thrill, C., Mesa, V., Zamani-Gallaher, E. M., & Wood, J. L. (2020). Mathematics placement, courses, and Use of Local Data in the STEM Mathematics Pathway in Predominately Black Institutions The Journal of the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges, 11(3), 4-11.
Zamani-Gallaher, E. M., Choudhuri, D. D., & Taylor, J. L. (Eds.) (2019). Rethinking LGBTQIA Students and Collegiate Contexts: Identity, Policies, and Campus Climate. Routledge.
Baber, L. D., Zamani-Gallaher, E. M., Stevenson, T. N., & Porter, J. (2019). From Access to Equity: Community Colleges and the Social Justice Imperative. In M. B. Paulsen, & L. W. Perna (Eds.), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research (Vol. 34, pp. 203-240). Springer.
Welton, A. D., Owens, D. R., & Zamani-Gallaher, E. M. (2018). Anti-racist change: A conceptual framework for educational institutions to take systemic action. Teachers College Record, 120(14), 1-22.
Kelsay, L., & Zamani-Gallaher, E. M. (Eds.). (2014). Working with students in community colleges: Contemporary strategies for bridging theory, research, and practice. ACPA Books and Media/Stylus Publishing.
Zamani-Gallaher, E. M., & Polite, V. C. (Eds.). (2013). African American females: Addressing challenges and nurturing the future. Michigan State University Press.
Zamani-Gallaher, E. M., Green, D.O, Brown, M. C., & Stovall, D. O. (2009). The case for affirmative action on campus: Concepts of equity, considerations for practice. Stylus Publishing.
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- Co-Principal Investigator, Enduring Transfer Pathways to Graduate Education in STEM, $500,000 (2022-2024)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)
- Principal Investigator, Training Future Oriented Colleges to Enable Youth and Adults for Mobility, $1,265,020 (2021-2024)
- Principal Investigator, Transformation Enablers Pilot – Pathways Providers, $201,687 (2021-2023)
- Principal Investigator, Equity in Action, $623,826 (2020-2024)
- Principal Investigator, Embedding Equity within Pathways Catalog of Services, $1,474,151 (2018-2023)
California Community Colleges Foundation/LA Funders Collaborative
- Principal Investigator, Documenting Transfer Student Success $49,999 (2023)
Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW)
- Principal Investigator, A2B4Equity: Advancing Adults’ Ability to Benefit Through Equitable College Promise Programs, $125,000 subaward, ECMC Foundation (2022-2024)
Awards & Honors:
- American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Senior Scholar Diplomate (2023)
- American Educational Research Association Fellow (2022)
- DIVERSE: Issues in Higher Education, Diversity Champion of the Year Award (2022)
- National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Community College Research Award (2019)
- National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students (NISTS) (2019)
- American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Diamond Honoree (2017)
- Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Council on Ethnic Participation (CEP) Founder’s Service Award recipient (2018)
- Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) Senior Scholar Award (2017)
- ASHE-CEP Mildred B. Garcia Senior Exemplary Scholarship Awardee (2009)
Executive Director, Council for Study of Community Colleges (Ongoing)
Community College Review Editorial Board (2013 – Present)
Black Learner Excellence Expert Advisory Committee (EAC) Member (2022-present)
Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) Advisory Board Member, Advancing Equity in Attainment for Black Single Mothers in College (2021-present)
American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Senior Scholars Board, 2018-2023
Advance Career Technical Education National Advisory Committee Member (2021-2022)
ASHE Ethics Appeals Committee Member 2021-2022
ASHE Board of Directors, At-large Member 2020-2022
Director for Research and Scholarship, ACPA (2015-2017)
