“Every day, the UNC School of Education community of faculty, students, staff, alumni, donors, partners and more work to realize the transformative power of education,” said Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, dean of the UNC School of Education and Alumni Distinguished Professor from 2016 to 2024. “For the last eight years at Carolina, I have been incredibly privileged to lead the School of Education and work alongside dedicated and visionary people who come together to benefit learners and educators in extraordinary and lasting ways.”
During Abd-El-Khalick’s tenure, collaboration has been integral to the UNC School of Education’s success. The culture of low stone walls is not new to the school, but under Abd-El-Khalick’s leadership, the school has actively pursued collaborations on campus and beyond to serve educators and students in North Carolina and the nation. In the process, the school has become a powerhouse of innovation and impact.
“I am deeply proud of all we have accomplished together since I came to Carolina in July 2016,” Abd-El-Khalick said. “I have every confidence that this school is poised to accomplish much more.”
Soon after beginning his role as dean, Abd-El-Khalick led the development of a five-year strategic plan and launched the creative discovery of a new brand identity. The result: Four guiding pillars and a strategic framework that continue to steer the school’s values, commitments and ambitions today.
Determined and passionate about creating a sustainable future for the School of Education, Abd-El-Khalick actively engaged in raising $26.8 million in the Campaign for Carolina. Additionally, he built new infrastructure to secure crucial research funding from a range of public and private grant-making organizations. By prioritizing research funding, he was able to help quadruple annual research expenditures — from $5.7 million in 2015 to $22.2 million in 2023 — expanding scholarly leadership and impact through leading-edge research and innovation.
Under his leadership, the UNC School of Education rose as high as No. 21 among all schools and colleges of education and No. 13 among public schools of education across the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report. The school has remained in the top 25 schools of education for five consecutive years.
Abd-El-Khalick understands this type of success doesn’t happen because of just one person, rather a sum of incredibly capable collaborators and supporters who are passionate about education and the school’s vision and mission.
He launched a wide-ranging faculty hiring campaign, welcoming 37 new faculty members with a range of expertise and research that has critical implications for education. The school attracted the best, brightest and most diverse faculty — rising stars and established scholarly leaders — renewing 70% of its ranks and increasing faculty racial and ethnic diversity from 22% to a historical high of 32%.
“We continue to achieve our strategic goals, thanks to the dedication and hard work of many,” said Abd-El-Khalick. “Our world is propelled by people, people who imagine, persevere and create. This is exactly what our faculty and staff do every day.”
Abd-El-Khalick and the school’s faculty and staff members have launched and been invited to join initiatives — including North Carolina Teaching Fellows, DREAM, UNC LEADS, Fellows for Inclusive Excellence, and Helping Heels, among others — to prepare teachers, school counselors and school leaders to be the most effective educators for every corner of North Carolina. The school has also increased its HyFlex and online program offerings.
In 2022, the School of Education also launched Carolina Community Academy — an innovative K-2 laboratory school an hour’s drive north in Roxboro, North Carolina — in partnership with Person County Schools. The School of Education also leads a campus-wide coalition of schools and units — including the Ackland Art Museum, Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, Athletics and the schools of social work, medicine, dentistry, public health, and more — bringing the best of what Carolina has to offer to the Roxboro community.
The School of Education also partnered with NC State’s College of Education to launch Pathway to Practice NC, a fully online and self-paced teacher program to help the state’s residency license teachers earn full licensure and to help address the state’s teacher shortage. To date, about 500 residency license teachers across 84 of North Carolina’s 115 school districts have worked toward full licensure.
In addition to programmatic and faculty and staff growth, Abd-El-Khalick led renovation efforts to accommodate expanding research projects and to create inspiring, collaborative and agile spaces for faculty, students and staff.
Abd-El-Khalick said he is proud of what he has been able to accomplish during his time as dean, but knows the school is prepared for so much more.
As he stepped down as dean in June 2024 to serve as the next provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he noted, “Our School of Education is talent rich, programmatically robust and poised for additional growth in research, teaching, service and impact. I have every confidence the School of Education will continue this upward trajectory to propel our world through education.”
By Terzah Dyer
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