Memo: Introducing Pedro Noguera as Dean of the USC Rossier School of Education

On behalf of President Folt, I am very pleased to announce that Dr. Pedro Noguera will be joining our community as dean of the USC Rossier School of Education, effective July 1, 2020.

Dr. Noguera comes to us from UCLA where he is Distinguished Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. He also directs the Center for the Transformation of Schools. Dr. Noguera’s research focuses on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions, as well as by demographic trends in local, regional, and global contexts. He is the author, co-author, or editor of 13 books, and he has published over 250 research articles, book chapters, research reports, and editorials.

In service to his field, he sits on the boards of many national and local organizations, including the Economic Policy Institute, the National Equity Institute, The Nation Magazine, and City Year Los Angeles. He is a frequently called upon commentator on education.

Prior to joining the faculty at UCLA, Dr. Noguera served as a tenured professor and holder of endowed chairs at New York University, Harvard University, and UC Berkeley. He was recently appointed to serve as a special advisor to the Governor of New Mexico on education policy, and he also advises the state departments of education in Washington, Oregon, and Nevada. From 2009-2012, he served as a governor-appointed Trustee for the State University of New York. In 2014, he was elected to the National Academy of Education and the Phi Delta Kappa honor society, and just last week, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Noguera has received seven honorary doctorates, and he recently received awards from the Center for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, from the National Association of Secondary Principals, and from the McSilver Institute at NYU for his research and advocacy efforts aimed at fighting poverty.

Dr. Noguera, who will be the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean of Rossier, joins USC as the school and university community together chart a safe path toward a post-COVID recovery. He will draw on his deep experience to hold the school’s mission paramount – to prepare leaders to achieve educational equity through practice, research, and policy. We are eager to support Dr. Noguera as he hits the ground running.

Dr. Noguera will lead an exceptional school of education. Over the past 20 years, under Dr. Karen Symms Gallagher’s strong leadership, USC Rossier has stepped onto the national and international stage to be recognized as developing the nation’s finest education leaders. Dr. Noguera will build on this foundation to chart new paths as we take on the challenges of education that must be resolved to advance our society. We are delighted that, after a sabbatical, Dr. Gallagher will return to Rossier as a member of our senior research faculty and holder of the Veronica and David Hagen Endowed Chair in Women’s Leadership.

We would like to thank the Dean Search Committee, co-chaired by Willow Bay, Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and John Matsusaka, Interim Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs, for their service and dedication to the Rossier community. We were additionally privileged to have the advice of a Special Advisory Board comprised of leaders from across the field of education.

President Folt and I very much look forward to Dr. Noguera’s partnership with our senior leadership team. We know he will bring intellect, enthusiasm, and creative ideas to our team. Please help us welcome Pedro, and his spouse Allyson Pimentel, to the Trojan Family.