New dean for HGSE
James E. Ryan, one of the nation’s leading scholars of education law and policy, will become the next dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), President Drew Faust announced today. Ryan, an award-winning teacher who has served on the University of Virginia faculty since 1998, succeeds Kathleen McCartney, who will leave Harvard to become president of Smith College on July 1. Ryan will officially assume his new role on Sept. 1, near the start of the 2013-14 academic year. Richard J. Murnane, the Juliana W. and William Foss Thompson Professor of Education and Society at the HGSE, will serve as acting dean from July 1 until Ryan begins his tenure. “Jim Ryan is an outstanding scholar, teacher, and academic leader with a deep passion for improving education and for enhancing the interplay of scholarship, practice, and policy,” Faust said. “Throughout the search, I have been impressed by his seamless integration of...