June 16, 2000
Contact: Lynn Bretz, University Relations, (785) 864-8860.
LAWRENCE--Jerry D. Bailey, director of the Institute for Educational Research and Public Service at the University of Kansas, has been named interim dean of KU's School of Education, Provost David E. Shulenburger announced today.
Bailey, a former high school teacher and administrator in Wichita schools who has taught at KU for 25 years, will succeed Karen Gallagher, who is leaving this fall to become dean of the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education.
"I am confident Jerry will serve the school and the university very well in this important interim position," Shulenburger said. "Jerry has the skills to lead the school during this exciting and challenging period in the school's history."
Among Bailey's charges will be to complete the school's move to its new, state-of-the-art home, the renovated Joseph R. Pearson Hall.
Shulenburger will appoint a search committee and begin a national search for a permanent dean in the fall.
Bailey joined the KU faculty in 1975 and later served as associate dean for undergraduate studies and teacher education from 1985 to 1997. He was named director of the educational research institute in 1997. As director, he oversees sponsored research and training projects, funded at $2 million a year, that promote equal educational opportunities and professional development.
Before coming to KU, Bailey was a science and social studies teacher and a counselor at Brooks Junior High School in Wichita in the 1960s. He then served as associate principal of Wichita Heights High School. He later taught at Wichita State University and then became a research associate director of the Educational Opportunities Planning Center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Oklahoma, Norman, and received his doctorate in education from the University of Tennessee. He was named a Fulbright-Hayes Scholar in 1992 and studied in Yokohama, Japan.
In addition to his work as director, Bailey teaches courses in teacher education, education law and ethics, and education policy. He also has been active in developing federal education policies and has testified before the U.S. Senate and state legislative committees.
KU's School of Education is composed of four departments--Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences; Psychology and Research in Education; Teaching and Leadership; and Special Education --and seven centers, including the Center for Economic Education, the Center for Education Testing and Evaluation, and the Center for Research on Learning. The school has 80 faculty members, 29 professional staff members and more than 2,700 students.