Leadership at the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development

From Dr. Kenneth Lutchen, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer ad interim

This past year, as you may recall, we launched a national search for the next dean of the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, as Dean David Chard prepares to step down from his leadership role at the end of June. We hope to be able to announce a new dean later this summer. In the meantime, we are pleased to share the appointment of Mary Churchill, associate dean of strategic initiatives and community engagement at Wheelock, as interim dean, effective July 1.

Dr. Churchill has been a respected leader at Wheelock for over seven years and was instrumental in the historic merger of Wheelock with Boston University in 2018. In addition to her service as associate dean setting the strategic direction for the college’s engagement and advocacy work, she is director of Wheelock’s Higher Education Administration Program and a professor of the practice of education. Dr. Churchill brings over 30 years of university leadership experience to this interim position, with senior roles at Northeastern University, Queens College CUNY, Bentley College, Emmanuel College, and Salem State University, where she was an associate provost and dean immediately prior to joining Wheelock in 2017.

Dr. Churchill is a leading international voice for social justice and change management within higher education and has written extensively for major publications including the Chronicle of Higher Education, the (UK) Guardian, The Conversation, and The Washington Post. In 2021, she took a public service leave to serve as chief of policy and planning for then-Boston Mayor Kim Janey, managing college and university relationships for that office. She continues to serve on several national boards and committees, including the Women’s Network Executive Council at the American Council on Education, the EMPath program committee, and Boston Public Schools’ Pre-K Advisory Board. Dr. Churchill holds a PhD and MA in sociology from Northeastern University and a BS in psychology from Michigan State University.

We are grateful to Dr. Churchill for her willingness to step into this role and are confident the college will remain in excellent hands during this period of transition. We hope you will join us in welcoming Dr. Churchill as interim dean and look forward to reporting back to you later this summer as we announce new permanent leadership at the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development.

Leadership at Wheelock College of Education & Human Development – 6.18.24