Associate Professor Tom Stritikus, who serves on Education Northwest’s Board of Directors, has been selected as the next dean of the University of Washington College of Education. When approved by the Board of Regents, he will succeed Patricia Wasley, who after serving as dean for 10 years will return to the faculty.

Stritikus is one of 29 board members from the five Northwest states who help guide the work of Education Northwest. “The problems facing education are very complex and have a local texture,” says Stritikus. “One of the great things about the Education Northwest Board is that I get a chance to work with people from all over the Northwest who help me get a sense of how local challenges and opportunities can connect to the work that we do in the college.” He added that he hopes through his board service “to build a closer connection between innovation and incubation of ideas.”

Stritikus is the first Teach for America volunteer to become a dean of education at an American university. He has focused his scholarly work on the daily practice of teachers and learners, concentrating on the experience of immigrant students. His work focuses on the context and process of adjustment for immigrant students and the educational opportunities—from a policy and practice perspective—that schools and districts make available to them.

Another Education Northwest board member is also taking on a new role this fall. Patrick Haggarty has been named interim superintendent of the school system of the Catholic Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Montana. Haggarty will oversee schools in Billings, Great Falls, Livingston, and Miles City, as well as on the Crow, Northern Cheyenne, and Fort Peck Indian reservations. Since 2003, he has been the superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Helena diocese, which is in charge of Catholic schools in the western half of the state, including Missoula. He will keep that position in addition to his new duties.