A Message From the Dean

Phillip J. VanFossen
Interim Dean and Ackerman Distinguished Professor

Since June 1, 2022, I have been honored to serve as the Interim Dean of the College of Education. I have been blessed to have a variety of experiences over my nearly three decades at Purdue, and I will draw on all of these in continuing to move the College forward as we leverage the momentum we have built with our cutting-edge curriculum that has transformed our teacher education programs—as well as our other highly successful, nationally-ranked programs across both departments.

My primary goal has been to be the College’s ‘cheerleader-in-chief’—to share the amazing successes of our faculty, students and staff. I’ve been using a metaphor to encourage folks to share these successes. Economic theory tells us that markets only work perfectly when they trade in commodities such as barrels of oil or bins of coal—or bushels of wheat. Too often, Colleges of Education are viewed as interchangeable bushels of wheat. But each success we celebrate helps define us as quinoa in a field of wheat!

We pride ourselves on offering our students “a small college experience in a Big Ten university” and I invite you to come to the College of Education to see for yourself what it means to be a Boilermaker Educator!