 New SOE Dean Plans to Promote Social Justice
New School of Education Dean Walter Gmelch (left), whose appointment came exactly two years after former Dean Paul Warren stepped down, said he believes USF should strengthen its reputation for social justice and multiculturalism in order to attract students and serve the greater community.
“There’s got to be a good reason for why students come here,” Gmelch said. “It’s important that we know what we stand for.”
The School of Education should also maintain its specialized curriculum and institutes—such as its Center for Teaching Excellence and Social Justice—as “centers of excellence,” he said. “We ought to reinforce diversity with tangible centers,” he added.
When he joins USF Aug. 1, Gmelch will leave his position of six years as dean of the College of Education at Iowa State University. At Iowa State, Gmelch helped start a year-old preparation course for teachers of color with the goal of full retention. He also focused on issues of “global citizenship,” taking students and faculty with him to attend international multicultural conferences.
Gmelch said it was USF’s “human values” that drew him to the university. He was impressed with USF’s diversity and friendliness, he said. “I saw an informality that to me is important because hierarchies aren’t important; I’m interested in serving people.”
His coming to San Francisco is a return home. Both Gmelch and his wife, Paula, grew up in the South Bay. Gmelch, 56, attended Stanford University as an undergraduate before pursuing a master’s in business administration at the University of California, Berkeley. His plan to pursue a business career was derailed, however, after a year-long stint working in India for UNESCO.
“My heart was in maximizing human potential, not financial potential,” Gmelch said.
Upon his return to the U.S., Gmelch earned a Ph.D in education from the University of California, Santa Barbara and went on to become a professor, associate dean, and then interim dean at Washington State University before moving to Iowa State. He has conducted several studies on leadership and written extensively on the subject. He has also been selected as a Kellogg National Fellow, a Fulbright Scholar, and a Danforth Fellow.
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