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Dr. S. Marshall Perry, an educational leadership scholar primarily focused on advancing student success through research and innovation, has been named dean of the Kremen School of Education and Human Development at Fresno State, the university announced Tuesday.
Perry will officially begin the role on July 20, overseeing one of California’s largest teacher preparation programs.
“Throughout his career, Dr. Perry has championed academic pathways that support student success,” said Xuanning Fu, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs.
Fu highlighted Perry’s work developing accelerated “4+1” pathways that allow students to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees within five years.
Perry earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale before starting his academic career at Stanford. He later earned a Ph.D. in administration and policy analysis with a minor in political psychology.
His storied career includes research and consulting roles in California and New York, including work with struggling middle and high schools through the New York State Joint Intervention Teams.
Perry also served as a professor and administrator at Saint Mary’s College of California, where he became vice provost of academic innovation and later interim dean of the Kalmanovitz School of Education.
In a news release, Perry said he was attracted to Fresno State’s reputation for economic mobility and teacher preparation.
“Fresno State is known as a high-quality university of economic mobility and the Kremen School in particular is a place of enormous accomplishment and great potential,” Perry said. “It is widely known as the place that prepares more credentialed P-12 schoolteachers than any other public university in California, but I was delighted to also learn about strong master’s programs in counseling, education and leadership, as well as a doctoral program in educational leadership.”
Perry said he plans to expand pathways that connect undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programs.
His research on distance education has been recognized by the Institute of Education Sciences What Works Clearinghouse.