Ohio State University’s College of Education and Human Ecology has recruited some of the nation’s top Black scholars in the field of education to join its faculty in the Fall.
The assembling of this “dream team” which includes scholars such as Drs. Donna Y. Ford, Lori Patton Davis, Stephen John Quaye and Edward Fletcher is part of an aggressive plan by the school’s relatively new dean to diversify the school’s faculty.
Dr. Donald B. Pope-Davis, who has been at OSU less than a year, has largely been the driving force behind the recruitment efforts. Pope-Davis, who is African-American, was previously the dean of the College of Education at New Mexico State University. He has also served in senior-level positions at the University of Notre Dame and DePaul University and has held faculty appointments at the University of Iowa and the University of Maryland.
Observers credit Pope-Davis for proactively doing what too many colleges and universities continue to claim is challenging, if not impossible: finding and hiring faculty of color. In fact, sources say that Pope-Davis has committed to target hires and has been outspoken about his desire to move the needle in luring top talent to the university from the day that he arrived on campus.
And while he has already made offers to several well-known researchers, he has also hired 10 underrepresented postdocs, a bold move that signals that the college in particular, and the university is general, is serious in cultivating young scholars of color.
“Dean Don Pope-Davis has outlined a new and exciting vision for the College of Education and Human Ecology, in which urban education, rural education, and international education are the main thrust,” said Dr. James L. Moore III, Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity officer at OSU. “Dean Pope-Davis understands that he needs to bring in other top faculty like Drs. Donna Y. Ford, Lori Patton Davis, and Edward Fletcher to help complement existing faculty strengths to realize his new vision.”
Moore, who is also a Distinguished Professor of Urban Education in the College of Education and Human Ecology said that as a result of the nation’s forecasted changing college demographics, senior leaders like Pope-Davis understand the importance of having a faculty reflected of its student body.
