Robert E. Floden has announced that he will step down as dean of the Michigan State University College of Education as of June 30, 2021. Floden, a University Distinguished Professor at MSU, will have served as dean for five and a half years.
He will officially retire one year later, capping off an impressive 45 years as a faculty member in the college and one of the nation’s leading education scholars.
“I have enjoyed working with an unparalleled group of faculty, staff and students, collectively committed to using insights from research and practical wisdom to address important issues in education,” Floden said.
MSU Provost Teresa K. Woodruff will work with the College of Education Faculty Advisory Committee to begin the process of searching for the next dean, with the intention of having the candidate in place by this summer.
“Dean Floden’s many contributions to his field, to the College of Education and to Michigan State University over the years have enriched our community of scholars in ways that will endure long beyond his tenure,” Woodruff said.
A career to remember
Floden is an elected member of the National Academy of Education and a fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), both honors reserved for the field’s most accomplished researchers. He is known for his contributions to reshaping knowledge and practice in teaching, teacher education and education policy. He currently is co-editor of the Journal of Teacher Education, the field’s most pre-eminent journal.
At MSU, he is a faculty member in several program areas: Teacher Education, Educational Psychology, Education Policy, Mathematics Education, and Measurement and Quantitative Methods. In the College of Education, he has served as director of influential research centers, as associate dean for research and twice before as acting or interim dean.
After close to five years as dean, MSU remains home to 130 outstanding faculty members, over 3,000 students and multiple highly ranked graduate program areas—with elementary and secondary education still #1 in the nation for 26 consecutive years.
The College of Education is preparing to embark on a reflection and planning process to prepare for the next chapter in its legacy as a world-renowned education school.
“There’s much to do in the remaining eight and a half months of my deanship as I work with those in the college and across MSU to figure out how to continue, during challenging times, to do excellent work across the missions of instruction, research and outreach,” Floden said. “I am committed to leading that work. With the current college leadership, I’m confident that MSU will continue to have an outstanding College of Education.”