Boilermaker Educator

Fall 2022

Phil Vanfossen

Message from the Interim Dean

It’s a pleasure to share with you our new e-magazine, Boilermaker Educator!  We hope this new format will make it easier for you to stay in touch with what’s happening in the College of Education.

I’ve been serving as Interim Dean since June 2022, and my goals include: (1) advocating for the College at every turn, (2) sharing our story with internal and external constituencies, and (3) maintaining the momentum we’ve developed over the last few years. 

We see this momentum in the past year’s hiring of 15 new faculty members and 18 new staff, and with the roll-out of our  Innovation Initiative (I2) with very positive feedback from our teacher education students and our school-based partners. Our new faculty – across both departments – have injected excitement and energy and have already had a discernible impact on the College.

Earlier this year, Associate Dean Kathy Obenchain had the brilliant idea to have the Education Deans of the four large public universities (Purdue, IU, Ball State, ISU) advocate for the increase in college-going among graduating high school seniors, and also to address the nationwide teacher shortage. I suggested the group write an op-ed for the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ), which was published in October.

Recently I’ve used a metaphor from economics in order to get folks to share their successes: we are not a commodity—like a bushel of wheat— interchangeable with every other College of Education. Rather than “wheat” we need to be viewed as “quinoa” ! As you can see from the wide-ranging topics in this issue, there is much we can celebrate. I hope you enjoy reading about what makes us quinoa!

We congratulate our newest alumni, graduating on December 17, and welcome you alongside us as Boilermaker Educators. Please connect with us via LinkedIn and our other social media channels (see the end of this magazine for links).

Wishing you the very best of the holiday season and New Year,

Phillip J. VanFossen
Interim Dean, College of Education

Recent Big Grants

(left to right): F. Richard Olenchak, Kristen Seward, Anne Traynor, and Ophélie Desmet

USDOE: Positive Psychology

Kristen Seward (l) and Nielsen Pereira (center), interim co-directors of the Gifted Education Research & Resource Institute (GER2I); and Marcia Gentry (r), former director of GER2I; former professor of Gifted, Creative and Talented Studies

USDOE: HOPE+SIM

Hua-Hua Chang

NSF: Actionable Data

Wanju Huang, Clinical Assistant Professor, Learning Design & Technology

NSF: Cyber Training Curriculum

DOE Funds Johnson's Project Rise for 2.4 million

USDOE: Project RISE

Kathryn Obenchain, Jennifer Barce

INDOE: Grow-Your-Own Teacher Pipeline Program

Other News

A woman wearing a face shield works with two young students.

5 Alumni named Golden Apple Award Winners

Prof. Dr. Bettina Lindmeier, LUH College of Education, and Phillip J. VanFossen, Interim Dean of the Purdue University College of Education, sign the Letter of Intent between LUH and Purdue.

Leibniz University Hannover scholars visit college, partner in teaching

Loeb Fountain in front of Beering Hall

Purdue podcast interviews alum Phil Cook

#22 Best Online Master's in Education

On-campus leaders in online education: Purdue College of Education

Marcia Gentry

Remembering Marcia Gentry

Message from the Office of Development

“You have made the choice to help make student aspirations and faculty ambitions a reality,” says Chelsea J. Coursey, the College’s chief development officer. “No matter the area within our college that you choose to support, your generosity will have a significant impact.”