The Office of the Provost released this announcement today (Jan. 20):

Lauren Lindstrom’s appointment as the dean of the School of Education has been extended for an additional year, through June 30, 2023, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Croughan announced today (January 20). After she completes her term as dean, Lindstrom will continue to teach and pursue research as a professor in the School.

“We are extremely pleased that Dean Lindstrom has agreed to serve another year in this key position,” said Croughan. “In her nearly five years as dean, she has provided wise and impactful leadership and kept the School moving forward in the face of significant challenges — not least of which has been maintaining the School’s strength and excellence during the pandemic.”

Lindstrom’s many important accomplishments as dean include facilitating the development of a new five-year School of Education strategic plan; expanding and diversifying the faculty, growing capacity and external support for educational research (with active research awards surpassing $56 million in 2021), and developing new foundation and corporate partnerships to support the School’s mission.

Educational equity

“It has been an honor and pleasure to serve as the dean of the School of Education at UC Davis,” said Lindstrom. “In its first 20 years, the School has grown in size and stature and built regional, state, national, and international partnerships to advance our mission of educational equity. I have greatly enjoyed working with our outstanding faculty and staff to advance our excellence and impact, and I am very grateful for the support of our campus leadership throughout my tenure as dean.”

Before coming to UC Davis as professor and dean in 2017, Lindstrom was an academic and administrator in the University of Oregon College of Education for 25 years. She is an active researcher whose areas of interest include autism and developmental disabilities, special education, career and college readiness, and transition services for youth with disabilities.

Focusing anew on research

“Over the next 16 months, I will continue to energetically advance our priorities for the School of Education,” Lindstrom commented. “After that, I look forward to shifting my primary focus back to research, teaching, and service in my role as UC Davis professor — including two collaborative research projects to benefit youth with disabilities in South Africa and Australia.”

Lindstrom has been recognized nationally and internationally for her academic work. Most recently, in 2020 she received the Distinguished Researcher Award from the American Educational Research Association, Special and Inclusive Education Special Interest Group, and in 2018 she was named a Fulbright Specialist in Education.

A national search for Lindstrom’s successor as School of Education dean will begin in August 2022, allowing the new dean to be in place for the 2023-24 academic year.

Craig Buckwald is a writer and media advisor in the Office of the Provost.