For immediate useNov. 14, 1997 -- No. 858

CUNY dean tapped to lead School of Education

CHAPEL HILL -- Dr. Madeleine R. Grumet, dean of the Brooklyn College School of Education in the City University of New York, has been named dean of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Education.

The UNC Board of Governors today (Nov. 14) approved the appointment, effective July 1, 1998. Grumet also has taught at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., and the University of Rochester.

“Madeleine Grumet brings highly impressive credentials as an education scholar as well as vision to the critical position of dean,” said Chancellor Michael Hooker. “Improving public education in North Carolina, especially in grades K-12, will continue to be a major focus at the School of Education, and Madeleine shares my excitement about that goal. Equally important are her ideas about how we train excellent future teachers in Chapel Hill and guide our own education faculty in their teaching, research and scholarly pursuits. I am thrilled she will be joining our administrative team.”

Said Grumet, “North Carolina's significant commitment to improve education for its children presents this great university with an opportunity to work with teachers, administrators and educational communities across the state to create vibrant schools where all children are respected and challenged to learn. The School of Education at Chapel Hill meets this moment with energy, imagination and expertise, and I am delighted to join its faculty, staff and students in this important work.”

Dr. William Burke, the school's interim dean, will continue to serve until next July. A 12-member search committee led by Professor Joseph Ferrell of the Institute of Government recommended Grumet's appointment.

The School of Education offers a full range of undergraduate and graduate study through nine degree programs with a number of specialty areas. Nearly 80 faculty members teach at the school. Current enrollment totals 214 undergraduate and 300 graduate students.

Grumet has taught courses including the history and philosophy of education, education and the arts, women's studies and feminist theory. She is the author of “Bitter Milk: Women and Teaching,” co-author of “Toward A Poor Curriculum” and has written for several professional books and journals.

During nine years as dean at Brooklyn's school, home to about 800 undergraduate students and more than 2,000 graduate students, her accomplishments included:

• Revising undergraduate teacher education by having new courses developed in the humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences and pairing them with education courses. Grumet led efforts to raise more than $1.3 million for this project.
• Creating four courses for students who seek certification to teach but have no undergraduate education work. The courses permit special attention to immigrant groups or groups from industry or military backgrounds who need to understand the culture of urban U.S. schools.
• Developing an outreach program from Brooklyn College for curriculum and staff development in Brooklyn schools, for which she acquired nearly $1.2 million in donations.
• Collaborating with New York City schools and the Lincoln Center Institute.
• Creating Bridges to Brooklyn, a middle school chosen as a New Visions School by the Fund for New York City Public Education. Grumet's education school developed the school, for grades 6-8, with the Brooklyn Museum, the Brooklyn Public Library and the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment. The school opened in February 1994 and is connected to the Brooklyn College Academy, an alternative high school on the Brooklyn College campus.
• Directing efforts to establish doctoral studies in curriculum and educational leadership at CUNY, working with faculty from CUNY's graduate center and senior campuses.

Grumet edits the series “Feminist Theory in Education” for the State University of New York Press and “The Politics of Identity and Education” for Teachers College Press. She is on the editorial boards of three scholarly journals. A member of New York City's Middle School Initiative Advisory Council, Grumet also is on the advisory board to the Office of Brooklyn High Schools, the Teacher Education Redesign Panel for Marymount College and several national funding panels.

A native of Brooklyn, Grumet received a bachelor's degree in literature from Barnard College in 1961, a master's in English education in 1974 from the University of Rochester and a doctoral degree in curriculum theory in 1979 from Rochester.

- 30 -

Print contact: Mike McFarland, 962-8593 and Laura J. Toler, 962-8589

Broadcast contact: Karen Moon, 962-8595.