School of Education Names Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research

Scholar and social justice advocate Dr. Gretchen Givens Generett has been named associate dean for graduate studies and research in the School of Education.

Generett, who has spent the last decade researching and teaching on issues of professional development for teachers, educational leadership and identity, joins Dean Olga Welch, Dr. Susan Munson, associate dean for teacher education, and the department chairs in forming the School of Education’s Executive Committee.

“Because of the different talents and backgrounds brought to the table, diversity enriches and strengthens any community and is especially critical in learning communities,” Welch said. “I’m particularly proud to have an outstanding practitioner, scholar and advocate like Dr. Generett working with our school as a leader. Perspectives like hers are growing all the more important in today’s schools, as more diversity among students is coupled with a push for academic excellence. Her experiences will help the next educational leaders to better address these issues.”

Generett, who has taught at Duquesne since 2008, is co-director of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Center for Educational Leadership and Social Justice at Duquesne, one of only eight centers across the country. This summer, she served as a visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin, sharing her expertise with aspiring principals.

Her commitment to ensure that teachers are prepared to educate all students stems from observing and questioning the different schooling experiences of students of color in predominantly white educational settings. Generett’s interest comes from her personal background as a beneficiary of integration and from the fact that her mother, as an eighth-grader, integrated her local school.

Generett attended Spelman College, one of the nation’s stellar historically Black women’s colleges in Atlanta, serving as student body president and as a member of the Board of Trustees. Graduating with high honors, she enrolled in the doctoral program at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, on full fellowship. Generett began her academic career at Virginia Tech by accepting one of two vacant positions in the country in the field of Foundations of Education.

Previously a faculty member at Robert Morris and George Mason universities, Generett also taught high school English in Japan.

As a senior evaluator for the Pittsburgh Public Schools Culturally Responsive Arts Education Project, Generett assesses the effectiveness of African arts across the curriculum. She also designs training for the UCEA and the Fund for the Improvement of Post-secondary Education to strengthen teachers’ ability to support low-income and diverse populations.