Dr. M. Jayne Fleener Named Dean of NC State’s College of Education

Dr. M. Jayne Fleener, dean and E.B. “Ted” Robert Professor at Louisiana State University’s (LSU) College of Education, has been named dean of the College of Education at North Carolina State University, effective July 1. Interim Provost Warwick A. Arden announced the appointment today.

With more than 2,000 students, NC State’s College of Education produces the most science, math and technology teachers in the state of North Carolina. The college has the second highest enrollment in the university’s graduate school. Fleener succeeds Dr. Kathryn M. Moore, professor of adult and higher education, who served as dean for 9 years.

“I believe Dr. Fleener, with her extensive K-12 and higher education background and strong administrative leadership skills as demonstrated at LSU, will be a valuable asset to NC State,” Arden said. “Working together with its outstanding administrators, faculty and staff,  I expect her to take the College of Education to the next level of excellence in fulfilling its mission of teaching, research and service.”

In almost six years as dean at LSU, Fleener nearly doubled the college’s endowment, and significantly increased research and outreach productivity – increasing proposal submissions by 121 percent. She also served on the State of Louisiana Board for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Council on Accreditation and School Improvement.

Prior to her position at LSU, Fleener was associate dean for research and graduate studies at the University of Oklahoma. During her time in Oklahoma, she also was professor of instructional leadership and academic curriculum, chair of mathematics education certification and mathematics education program area coordinator. Fleener has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on grants worth more than $14 million. She began her teaching career in the Departments of Mathematics and Computer Science at Durham City Schools in Durham, N.C.

Fleener serves on numerous governing and advisory boards for journals, professional organizations and community non-profits. She has received a variety of awards for her teaching, research and leadership including her most recent national AdvancED Leadership Award – dedicated to educators who are committed to influencing the future of learning and to ensuring student preparedness for tomorrow’s world – in April 2010. She also serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Curriculum & Pedagogyy, Non-linear Dynamics, Psychology and the Life Sciences and the International Journal of Instruction.

Fleener has more than 80 refereed and non-refereed publications in the areas of learning and learning theory; curriculum and instruction; teacher preparation; development and change; and educational research and theory. She has also authored books on curriculum dynamics and chaos and complexity. A frequently sought-after speaker, Fleener has given more than 100 national and international presentations from topics such as mathematics education to research reform and paradigms.

Fleener received her bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Indiana University at Bloomington in 1978. She earned a master’s degree in philosophy in 1980, a master of arts in teaching in mathematics in 1983, and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction in 1988 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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