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Lynch School of Education Dean Maureen Kenny, who has led the school as interim dean and then dean since 2011, has announced her plans to step down after four years of successful leadership.
Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley said that a search committee will be formed later this summer to identify a successor, and that Kenny will continue to serve as dean until a successor is named. She will return to the Lynch School faculty at that time.
During her tenure, Kenny was credited with sustaining the Lynch School’s leadership among the nation’s top-ranked schools of education and strengthening its collaborations across the University and with external partners locally, nationally and internationally. She was also recognized for leading a successful strategic planning effort that affirmed the school’s seven pillars of excellence, and for attracting and retaining top faculty to advance its strategic goals.
Quigley praised Kenny for providing skilled leadership at the Lynch School at an important time in its 63-year history.
"A long-serving and widely admired faculty member in the Lynch School of Education, Maureen Kenny cut short a sabbatical in Africa in the spring of 2011 to step in as Interim Dean,” said Quigley. “During the last four years, Maureen's work as Dean of the Lynch School has been marked by a commitment to our students, the hiring and mentoring of a strong cohort of younger faculty, the strategic development of the Roche Center for Catholic Education and the Lynch Leadership Academy, and the imaginative rethinking of the future of LSOE. She's been a terrific colleague and much respected by her fellow faculty and deans."
A popular teacher and administrator, Kenny arrived at Boston College in 1988 as an assistant professor and was named full professor in 2005. She served as associate dean for four years before being named interim dean in 2011. In addition to her roles as professor and dean, she also served the Lynch School as chair of the Department of Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology, and the program director for MA and Ph.D programs in Counseling.
Kenny said she was pleased to have led the school during the past four years in its strategic visioning and its collaborative outreach, which included deepening the relationship with the School of Social Work and Connell School of Nursing in the development of the undergraduate sequence in public health, and the Carroll School of Management in the creation of the Lynch Leadership Academy.
“I have been honored to serve as dean of one of the top schools of education in the country,” said Kenny. “Our mission, faculty, students, collaborations and great university context make this an outstanding school. I very much look forward to working with the next dean to advance the work of our school at a time when quality education for all is a matter of great national importance.”
Since she began her tenure as dean, the Lynch School has made a number of “top 10” lists, including College Factual, which ranked the school 5th in its survey of highest paid education grads for mid-career salaries; Campus Explorer, which ranked BC the 9th best college for education majors; and Smart Class, which named the Lynch School’s early childhood education program 7th best, and its secondary education degree program 9th best nationwide. It is home to the top counseling, elementary teacher education and secondary education programs in Massachusetts. Ranked 23rd in US News & World Report, the Lynch School remains the highest-ranked education school among Catholic universities nationwide.