Rutgers Graduate School of Education Appoints World-Renowned Scholar Marybeth Gasman as the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education and Distinguished Professor
Contact: Afsheen Shamsi
Telephone Number: 848-932-0619; 914-217-0983
Email Address: afsheen.shamsi@gse.rutgers.edu
For Immediate Release
Rutgers Graduate School of Education Appoints World-Renowned Scholar Marybeth Gasman as the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education and Distinguished Professor
(Dec. 7, 2018, New Brunswick, New Jersey) – Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE) announces the appointment of Marybeth Gasman, Ph.D., to the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education. Gasman’s appointment at the rank of Distinguished Professor was approved by the Rutgers Board of Governors yesterday, and she will formally assume her new role on September 1, 2019. Gasman’s expertise focuses on the history of American higher education, Minority Serving Institutions with an emphasis on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, racism and diversity, philanthropy, and higher education leadership. Her expertise and extensive mentorship of scholars from underrepresented backgrounds in higher education throughout the course of her career emulates and honors the legacy of Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor.
The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Chair in Education was established to honor the late Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor, who served as a member of the Rutgers University–New Brunswick faculty for 15 years, including appointments on the faculty of the Graduate School of Education as the first incumbent of the Martin Luther King Jr. Chair, and as a visiting Professor in the Department of Africana Studies. Dr. Proctor was the first African American faculty member at both the school and the university to have an endowed professorship named for him. Dr. Proctor’s career at Rutgers was marked by excellence and leadership in teaching, scholarship, and service. At the Graduate School of Education, he enriched the curriculum with courses in African American Studies in education and ethics. He also recruited generations of students of color to the university for graduate studies, which has led to distinguished careers as educational researchers, scholars, and leaders. The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Chair honors his legacy and manifests the continuing commitment of the Graduate School of Education and Rutgers University to his lifetime of advocacy and significant contributions to advancing issues of societal and educational equity. As the Proctor Chair, Gasman will have the opportunity and resources to develop an original vision of the Proctor Chair and implement initiatives to enhance Dr. Proctor’s legacy of advancing excellence and equity in education through civic leadership. In Fall 2019, she will launch the new Samuel D. Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice.
“For over 95 years, Rutgers Graduate School of Education has led the way in Advancing Excellence and Equity in Education in New Jersey and beyond,” said Rutgers–New Brunswick Interim Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Wanda J. Blanchett. “Dr. Marybeth Gasman brings a rich tradition of advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in higher education, and her appointment as the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Chair will further both the GSE’s mission and Dr. Proctor’s incredible legacy.”
“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Marybeth Gasman to the GSE,” said Rutgers GSE Interim Dean Clark Chinn. “Dr. Gasman’s impressive work and career emulate and honor the legacy of Dr. Proctor. Dr. Gasman is in the very top echelon of scholars worldwide in the field of higher education. Her research career has consistently addressed issues of race and equity in the U.S. We look forward to working with her to advance our collective goals of creating a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable landscape in higher education in our state of New Jersey and beyond.”
Reverend Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr., the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens (FBCLG) in Somerset, New Jersey and national civil rights leader was a mentee of Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor, and a 1992 Proctor Fellow at Union Theological Seminary. He was instrumental in establishing the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education at Rutgers University. Dr. Soaries stated, “Dr. Samuel D. Proctor believed that education is the primary means of social uplift and the formula for social justice. To have someone of the stature and commitment of Dr. Gasman serve in the chair that bears his name ensures that Proctor’s legacy will not only be in tact but will flourish to benefit future generations. Thank you to Rutgers for keeping my mentor’s profound legacy alive.”
Gasman currently serves as the Judy & Howard Berkowitz Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the founding director of the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), which works to amplify the contributions, strengthen, and support MSIs and those scholars interested in them. The Center for MSIs will move to Rutgers, along with its research, programs and staff, and will operate in conjunction with the Samuel D. Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice.
Gasman is the author or editor of 25 books, including Educating a Diverse Nation (Harvard University Press, 2015 with Clif Conrad) and Envisioning Black Colleges (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007). Her newest books, Making Black Scientists (with Thai-Huy Nguyen) and “We Don’t Want Them”: Faculty Diversity in Academe, are forthcoming with Harvard University Press and Princeton University Press, respectively. Gasman has written over 200 peer-reviewed articles, scholarly essays, and book chapters. She has also penned over 350 opinion articles for the nation’s newspapers and magazines and is ranked by Education Week as one of the ten most influential education scholars in the country. She has had tremendous success raising funds for the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions, raising $22 million to support her research and that of her students, mentees, and MSI partners. Gasman serves on the board of trustees of The College Board as well as Paul Quinn College, a small, urban, historically Black College in Dallas, Texas. She considers her proudest accomplishment to be receiving the University of Pennsylvania’s Provost Award for Distinguished Ph.D. Teaching and Mentoring, having served as the dissertation chair for over 80 doctoral students, the majority of whom are from underrepresented communities, since 2003. She received her Ph.D. in Higher Education and Law from Indiana University in 2000, her M.S. in Higher Education from Indiana University in 1992, and her B.A. in Political Science/Communications from St. Norbert College in 1990.
“I am honored to join Rutgers GSE as the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education and a Distinguished Professor,” said Gasman. “We are at a critical moment for education in our country, and I am looking forward to honoring the legacy of Dr. Proctor by advancing his and my collective vision for diversity, justice, and equity in education in New Jersey and across the country. I am particularly excited to join a public, research university that boasts such rich and beautiful diversity.”
The GSE is committed to advancing excellence and equity in education, and for the last 95 years has been a national leader in preparing educators and researchers who create effective and equitable learning opportunities for diverse learners.
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