Dean Schultz’s absence will be felt by community

As members of boards and committees at the University of Colorado School of Education, we write to express our deep regret over the recent resignation of Education Dean Kathy Schultz. We write as individuals but assure our readers that many share our perspective.

Kathy Schultz is a talented leader who excelled in bringing people together to accomplish great initiatives for the School of Education. She poured her heart into her work, making equity, inclusion and diversity the North Star of the School. Under her leadership, the School became renowned nationally for its excellent faculty and research. The School became a major draw for the most talented graduates across the country looking to further education research. She co-founded and led the national Education Deans for Justice and Equity and served as an elected Fellow of the American Educational Research Association.

Kathy Schultz was a prolific fundraiser and builder. Under her leadership, the School moved from an old, cramped building to the newly enlarged and renovated Miramontes

Baca Education Building, which will serve for decades the students, faculty and staff engaged in learning and producing our teachers, education leaders and researchers.

Throughout her tenure, Dean Schultz worked tirelessly to grow the School and respond to the teacher shortage crisis: under her leadership, the School launched two new bachelor’s degree programs in teacher education, an online master’s degree program, and two forthcoming undergraduate programs, all aimed at addressing teacher shortages and supporting community leaders. She supported an innovative Doctoral Pathways Program for first-generation students and students of color.

Throughout, she continued to teach and advise graduate students, modeling inclusive leadership.

The university and the education community have been fortunate to work with Dean Kathy Schultz. Her absence will be felt by all of us connected to educating our students for the future.

— Cynthia Stevenson and

Martha Olson, Boulder