Skip to Main Content
Boston University
  • Bostonia
  • BU Today
  • The Brink
  • University Publications

    • Bostonia
    • BU Today
    • The Brink
  • School & College Publications

    • The Record
Other Publications
BU Today
  • Sections
News, Opinion, Community

Chelsea Honors Associate Provost Doug Sears

Former school superintendent was a “role model” for struggling school district

November 28, 2006
  • Jessica Ullian
Twitter Facebook
Douglas Sears, an associate provost at BU and a former dean of the School of Education, was honored at the All-Chelsea Awards on November 15. Photo by BU Photo Services

For five years, Douglas Sears was the superintendent of the Chelsea Public School system. But to many people in Boston’s neighboring city, he was just Doug — “not out of failure to recognize the stature he has amassed in his professional and academic endeavors,” a recent citation from the city reads, “but in deference to his unassuming style and wide acceptance into the community.”

Sears, a former dean of the School of Education and now an associate provost at BU, became involved with the Chelsea schools through the BU/Chelsea Partnership, a 1989 collaboration that gave BU a contract to manage Chelsea’s schools in an effort to revitalize the troubled system. Now, as the partnership approaches the end of its 20-year agreement, the city has recognized Sears in its annual All-Chelsea Awards, naming him Contributing Stakeholder of the Year at a November 15 ceremony. The stakeholder award goes to someone who is not a Chelsea resident, but nonetheless has had an impact on the community.

“Doug’s been a champion for Chelsea school kids and, equally as important, he’s been a role model for professionalism in a community that was in need of role models during an important period of new formation,” says Jay Ash, Chelsea city manager. “His contributions to education and general municipal management have been significant here.”

Previous Contributing Stakeholder winners include the partnership itself in 2002 and President Emeritus John Silber in 2003.

Sears agrees that the BU/Chelsea Partnership has been a great success for the system, citing the new buildings, curricula, and policies that have been put in place over the past two decades, but deflects credit to the University itself and the program administrators who have kept the partnership running for so long. 

“The University provided a lot of logistical backup and know-how to make this happen,” Sears says. “I’m the guy who gets to enjoy some of the credit for that, but it’s really a University accomplishment.”

Sears began his tenure as superintendent in 1995, and over the course of the next five years played a critical role in bringing up the district’s MCAS, SAT, and AP test scores, reestablishing art and music programs throughout Chelsea’s schools, and improving basic operations such as budgeting, security, and transportation. High school graduation rates in the district climbed steadily during that period, jumping from 84.8 percent in 1996 to 97.6 percent in 2001.

The partnership contract will expire on June 30, 2008, but Sears emphasizes that BU has no intention of abandoning the school district after so many years of support. “We have a lot of accumulated experience and institutional memory,” he says. “We’re not going to walk away. We need to be there right at the end of the phone line for Chelsea.”

Jessica Ullian can be reached at jullian@bu.edu.

Explore Related Topics:

  • Awards
  • Climate Change
  • Local
  • Staff
  • Share this story

Share

Chelsea Honors Associate Provost Doug Sears

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Jessica Ullian

    Jessica Ullian Profile

Latest from BU Today

  • Education

    What’s Behind the Rise in Violence Against Teachers?

  • Fine Arts

    How I Made This: Jacob Whitchurch (CFA’26)

  • Things-to-do

    To Do Today: Seaport Sweat

  • Film & TV

    Did You Win Free Tickets to See Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning Tonight?

  • COMMENCEMENT 2025

    Experience BU’s 2025 Commencement from a Terrier Point of View

  • Obituaries

    Remembering Leslie Epstein, Pillar of BU’s Creative Writing Program

  • Voices & Opinion

    POV: This Memorial Day, Remember BU’s Fallen Heroes by Visiting the New Online Honor Wall

  • University News

    23 Charles River Campus Faculty Promoted to Full Professor

  • Commencement 2025

    Photos: A Look Back at BU’s Commencement

  • Theatre

    It’s “Prom Season” at Wheelock Family Theatre

  • Things-to-do

    Six Spots to Check Out This Memorial Day in Boston

  • Commencement 2025

    Video: Class of 2025: What We’ll Take with Us as We Begin a New Chapter

  • Health & Medicine

    What Does Biden’s Cancer Diagnosis Mean?

  • Watch Now

    BU’s Class of 2025: What Are Your Plans After Graduating?

  • Fitness

    BU Sports Rehab Therapists on Jayson Tatum’s Achilles Injury and Recovery Ahead

  • Commencement 2025

    Sights and Sounds from Boston University’s Class of 2025 Commencement

  • Commencement 2025

    Video: 2025 Graduate Jayde Best: “I Ended Up Exactly Where I Wanted to Be”

  • Commencement 2025

    “Empathy Is Essential,” BU Commencement Speaker Emily Deschanel Tells 2025 Graduates

  • Voices & Opinion

    I’m a Business Professor Who Asked Dozens of Former Students How They Define Success

  • Commencement 2025

    Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Convocations a Joyous Affair

Section navigation

  • Sections
  • Must Reads
  • Videos
  • Series
  • Close-ups
  • Archives
  • About + Contact
Get Our Email

Explore Our Publications

Bostonia

Boston University’s Alumni Magazine

BU Today

News, Opinion, Community

The Brink

Pioneering Research from Boston University

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • Instagram
  • Weibo
  • TikTok
© Boston University. All rights reserved. www.bu.edu
© 2025 Trustees of Boston UniversityPrivacy StatementAccessibility
Boston University
Notice of Non-Discrimination: Boston University prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, natural or protective hairstyle, religion, sex or gender, age, national origin, ethnicity, shared ancestry and ethnic characteristics, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, military service, marital, parental, veteran status, or any other legally protected status in any and all educational programs or activities operated by Boston University. Retaliation is also prohibited. Please refer questions or concerns about Title IX, discrimination based on any other status protected by law or BU policy, or retaliation to Boston University’s Executive Director of Equal Opportunity/Title IX Coordinator, at titleix@bu.edu or (617) 358-1796. Read Boston University’s full Notice of Nondiscrimination.
Search
Boston University Masterplate
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Chelsea Honors Associate Provost Doug Sears
0
share this