GSE Professors Named in Top 200 of 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholars Public Influence Rankings
Rutgers Graduate School of Education (GSE) is pleased to announce that two of its faculty members, Dr. Marybeth Gasman and Dr. W. Steven Barnett, have been recognized among the top 200 education scholars in the country in the 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholars Public Influence Rankings.
Each year, Frederick M. Hess, American Enterprise Institute director of education policy studies and Education Week opinion contributor, spotlights education scholars who move ideas from academic journals into the national conversation.
The rankings are calculated by employing eight publicly available metrics, including academic citations, book authorship, media mentions, and influence in syllabi and public discourse. The methodology aims to foster discussion about meaningful public influence in education. Using these eight metrics, Hess calculated how much university-based academics contributed to public discussions of education.
Dr. Marybeth Gasman, who ranks #19 in the 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholars Public Influence Rankings, is the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Endowed Chair in Education, a Distinguished Professor, and the Associate Dean for Research at the GSE. She also serves as the Executive Director of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity & Justice and the Executive Director of the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions. Dr. Gasman has written over 300 peer-reviewed articles, scholarly essays, and book chapters. She has penned over 650 opinion articles for the nation’s newspapers and magazines and is ranked by Education Week as one of the 30 most influential education scholars in the nation.
Dr. W. Steven Barnett, who ranks #71 in the 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholars Public Influence Rankings, is the Director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) and a Board of Governors Professor of Education in Economics and Policy at the GSE. His research explores how economics can be used to help us better understand the determinants of early learning and development. He has co-authored more than 300 publications and shaped critical public policy, including the groundbreaking Abott v. Burke NJ Supreme Court ruling which ordered a set of entitlements for children in the state’s school districts with the highest concentrations of poverty, including a high-quality preschool program for all 3- and 4-year-olds.
“Our faculty at Rutgers GSE are shaping the future of education through their innovative research and visionary leadership,” said Dr. Christopher Span, Dean of Rutgers GSE. “Dr. Gasman and Dr. Barnett exemplify the excellence and impact of our academic community, and I couldn’t be more proud to celebrate their achievements. Their work inspires not only their peers but also the next generation of educators and leaders we have the privilege of teaching.”
The full list of rankings can be found on Education Week.