Faculty and Research

Thomas W. Ralston, former superintendent of Avonworth School District in Allegheny County, will be the next director of the Forum for Western Pennsylvania School Superintendents at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education.

Gina Garcia, a faculty member in the University of Pittsburgh School of Education’s Department of Educational Foundations, Organizations, and Policy, has been selected to participate in the 2021-2022 Student Experience Research Network (SERN) Midcareer Fellows Program.

Professor Mary Margaret Kerr received the alumni award of the Education Policy and Leadership Center in recognition of her many contributions to education policy throughout her career.

Six faculty members from the University of Pittsburgh School of Education were awarded 2020-2021 Pitt Momentum Funds awards to support their research.

University of Pittsburgh School of Education faculty member Darris Means has received the Outstanding Publication Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) for a co-edited 2020 book.

Faculty member Maximilian Schuster was selected for the 2021 Excellence in Research Award by the NASPA. It recognizes his research paper about campus climate among the 2016 presidential election. 

Pitt School of Education faculty member Lindsay Page has been named to  Education Week’s 2021 RHSU 200 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Ranking, which recognizes U.S. scholars who did the most to shape educational practice and policy in the last year. 

Gina Garcia, an associate professor of higher education in the Pitt School of Education, will receive the University of Pittsburgh’s 2020-2021 Iris Marion Young Award for Political Engagement for Pitt Faculty in recognition of her work to promote justice. 

Suzanne Lane, a professor of Quantitative Research Methodology in the Educational Foundations, Organizations, and Policy department of  the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, has been appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), the body that sets policies for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly known as the “nation’s report card.”

Dean Valerie Kinloch recently moderated a discussion on book-to-film adaptation with author James McBride and actor Ethan Hawke based on the upcoming release of the limited series "The Good Lord Bird" on Showtime.

As part of the Tomorrow grant campaign, the University of Pittsburgh School of Education will receive $255,000 in grant funding to lead several new innovations in K-12 education across teacher education, student mentoring, and school leadership development.