Education School Announces Interim Dean

Thursday morning, the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) announced that Larsen professor of education and human development Nonie Lesaux will serve as interim dean when Dean Bridget Long steps down at the end of the academic year. Lesaux, who studies youth literacy, will serve as HGSE’s dean while the school conducts a formal search for its next dean.

At HGSE, Lesaux co-directs the Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative, which researches ideal early learning environments. From 2017-2021, she served as HGSE’s academic dean, and she has previously served on search committees for both the HGSE and the University, including on the search committee that selected Bridget Long.

In an email to HGSE community members announcing Lesaux’s new post, Interim President Alan Garber and Provost John Manning also named the members of the committee who will lead the search for a permanent dean:

• Ebony Bridwell-Mitchell, Simon professor in education, management, and organizational behavior
• Emma Dench, Dean of Harvard Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
• Amy Edmondson, Novartis professor of leadership and management (HBS)
• Andrew Ho, Eliot professor of education
• James Kim, professor of education
• Jeffrey Liebman, Scrivner professor of social policy
• Karen Mapp, professor of practice
• Amanda Pallais, Waggoner professor of economics (FAS)
• Meredith Rowe. Zaentz professor of early learning and development
• Adriana Umaña Taylor, Lawrence-Lightfoot professor of education
• Paola Uccelli, professor of education
• Rick Weissbourd, senior lecturer on education
• Marty West, Academic Dean of HGSE

Comments can be sent to the search committee via email (gsesearch@harvard.edu), postal mail (Massachusetts Hall, Cambridge, MA 02138, Attention: HGSE Dean Search), or online form.