Dr. Wanda Blanchett To Be Next GSE Dean

Rutgers University today announced the appointment of Dr. Wanda J. Blanchett as Dean of Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE).  Dr. Blanchett will begin her duties September 1, 2014.  Currently she is the Dean and Ewing Marion Kauffman/Missouri Endowed Chair for Teacher Education at the University of Missouri – Kansas City’s School of Education.

“Dr. Blanchett has a long and distinguished record as an administrator and educator, and she is a successful strategic planner with a deep commitment to diversity and strengthening university-community relations,” said Rutgers Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Rutgers – New Brunswick Interim Chancellor Dr. Richard L. Edwards in a letter to the Rutgers University community “She will provide effective leadership for GSE at a vital moment in the history of the school and the university.”

Throughout her administrative career, Dr. Blanchett has continued to be actively involved in her academic disciplines of teacher education, special education and urban education.  She is a member of several scholarly and professional associations, including the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education, the American Educational Research Association and the Council for Exceptional Children.

Dr. Blanchett received her B.S.E. and M.S.E. degrees from the University of Central Arkansas before earning her Ph.D. in special education from Pennsylvania State University in 1997.  She held special education and teacher education faculty appointments at Syracuse University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Colorado-Denver before becoming associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2004, associate dean for academic programs and curriculum at the University of Colorado-Denver in 2006, and dean of the UMKC School of Education in 2009.

Dr. Blanchett will replace Dr. Richard De Lisi who will step down as dean June 30, 2014 will return to the faculty in fall 2015 after a sabbatical year.  Dr. De Lisi has served as Dean of the Graduate School of Education since 2003.