Message From the Dean

As dean of DePaul University’s College of Education, it is my honor to welcome you and share with you what makes our college special. We believe it is the perfect place for you to study as you prepare for your future career!

We are dedicated in preparing our students—undergraduate and graduate—to become educators, counselors, academic leaders, and scholars who are committed to creating intellectually rich, compassionate, equitable and socially just environments.

Drawing from the concept of Vincentian personalism, we are dedicated to a student/person-centered approach which, in turn, our students take with them—into the classrooms where they observe and instruct as student teachers, into the districts and schools where they practice as professional educators and leaders, and into counseling settings.

Extending this student-centered approach from the classroom to the day-to-day academic and organizational support needed by students working their way through a degree, a school’s classrooms are only as strong as the offices that support them in their tasks. In this, we are excited to introduce our brand-new OASIS office (Office of Advising, Student Success, Internships and Student Teaching), which functions as a one-stop location for all our students’ academic and student support needs. We are deeply committed to putting students’ needs first and continuing to find innovative ways to do so.

DePaul College of Education graduates want to make a difference, whether it’s through teaching, counseling, administration, scholarly endeavors, or any other number of opportunities they will have in the education and mental health professions post-graduation. We work to bridge our instruction to real world experiences by linking theory and best practices with hands-on experience. For example, the Office of Innovative and Professional Learning (OIPL) and our new Community Partnerships and Student Internships (CPSI) Office provide students with a variety of experiences, whether it be through meaningful fieldwork, internships, student teaching opportunities or mentorship that will be a central part of your time with DePaul. Being in the heart of Chicago, DePaul’s College of Education gives our students access to and prepares them for working in the Chicago Public Schools, in the Archdiocese of Chicago schools, and throughout Chicagoland.

I’m very excited to have joined DePaul University as dean of the College of Education in the autumn of 2023. I join an incredibly expert, passionate and dedicated team of faculty and staff to which I bring my own decades of passion and dedication through my time in the classroom as an early grades teacher, to my move into higher education at multiple institutions in the Midwest. DePaul’s dedication to their Vincentian mission was a personal appeal to guiding me here—a mission which perfectly aligns with the need for practicing equity in education for educating our nation’s increasingly diverse youth. I am very happy to rise to this challenge and more excited still with your decision to join us in this mission.