Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, the dean of the UNC School of Education since 2016, will leave the position this summer to assume the role of Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, effective July 1.

“The past eight years at Carolina and the School of Education have been a highlight of my career,” Abd-El-Khalick said. “We have achieved much as a community of faculty, students, staff and alumni – in partnership with leaders at Carolina and in school districts and with our state officials – to better serve learners and educators in our rural and urban communities across North Carolina and beyond.”

Abd-El-Khalick also served as a Professor of Science and Education at UNC and, since 2022, an Alumni Distinguished Professor at the school. He served several appointments within the state government during his time in Chapel Hill, including serving on the advisory council for the North Carolina New Teacher Support Program from 2020 to 2022 and as a member of Governor Roy Cooper’s Commission on Access to Sound, Basic Education from 2017 to 2021.

Before coming to Chapel Hill, Abd-El-Khalick served on the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for 16 years and earned his Ph.D. from Oregon State University.

“I am grateful for all the support and kindness that the Carolina community and the state have shown our family over these years,” Abd-El-Khalick said. “We will always have a special place in our hearts and minds for the people and place that is Carolina.”

 

Featured image via UNC

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