Graduate School of Education Dean Susan Fuhrman will be returning to her New York roots in August when she becomes the new president of Teachers College at Columbia University.
The move to Columbia will be a homecoming of sorts for Fuhrman, who earned her Ph.D. there before holding her post at Penn for 11 years.
Fuhrman, though sad to leave Penn, said she is eager for the chance to tackle new projects at the Teachers College, which is currently one of the most prestigious education schools in the country.
In its most recent rankings, U.S. News and World Report put the Teachers College second and Penn GSE seventh.
"It has an important place in American education," Fuhrman said. "I'm very excited about this opportunity."
No interim GSE dean had been named as of press time, University spokeswoman Lori Doyle said.
Under Fuhrman's guidance, GSE embarked on initiatives to connect with local schools, initiating a collaboration with the School District of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers to launch the Penn Alexander School, a public elementary school in West Philadelphia.
The University is hoping to engage local high schools in West Philadelphia in the same type of cooperation.
Fuhrman said she plans to continue the work started at Penn in New York by increasing engagement with inner-city schools and setting up programs that parallel the ones she implemented as dean.
Fuhrman also worked to encourage faculty and student research.
According to John Puckett, an associate professor at GSE, Fuhrman's work helped the school become one of the top 10 education programs in America.
"Susan has given this school an identity and an international reputation," Puckett said. "The school's success is a tribute to her leadership."
Fuhrman was also active on the global scale, initiating policy discussions with other nations and encouraging comparative educational analysis with other schools.
Since Fuhrman became dean, the amount of externally funded research in GSE has quadrupled, and almost half of the school's faculty have come to the school during her deanship.
Fuhrman's warm personality and focused drive also made her colleagues eager to work with her, Puckett said.
"Dean Fuhrman brought a lot of energy to this school," GSE professor Rebecca Maynard said. "She was instrumental in bringing new faculty and new programs."
Fuhrman is satisfied with her contributions to GSE, noting that "GSE has become what an education school should be -- great faculty doing great research."
And a warm welcome seems to await her at Columbia.
"We believe Susan Fuhrman is the ideal person both to capitalize on our strengths and confront challenges," said Jack Hyland and Bill Rueckert, co-chairs of the Teachers College Board of Trustees, in a statement.
"She will be missed," Puckett said. "There's going to be a big vacuum that's hard to fill once she's gone."
