Wanda J. Blanchett, a veteran administrator known for building bridges between universities and their host communities, has been appointed dean of Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Education.

Blanchett, who is currently the dean of the School of Education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), begins her new assignment Sept. 1.

Wanda J. Blanchett will become dean of the Graduate School of Education on Sept. 1.

"Wanda Blanchett not only has a long and distinguished record as an administrator and educator, she is also a successful strategic planner with a deep commitment to diversity and strengthening ties between universities and communities,” said Richard L. Edwards, executive vice president for academic affairs and interim chancellor of Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

Blanchett received her B.S.E. and M.S.E. degrees from the University of Central Arkansas before earning her Ph.D. in special education from Pennsylvania State University in 1997.

She held special education and teacher education faculty appointments at Syracuse University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Colorado-Denver before becoming associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2004, associate dean for academic programs and curriculum at the University of Colorado-Denver in 2006 and dean of the UMKC School of Education in 2009.

Throughout her administrative career, Blanchett has continued to be actively involved in her academic disciplines of teacher education, special education and urban education.  She is currently the Ewing Marion Kaufman Professor of Teacher Education at UMKC. She is a member of several scholarly and professional associations, including the American Association for Colleges of Teacher Education, the American Educational Research Association and the Council for Exceptional Children.

Since 1923, Rutgers’ Graduate School of Education (GSE) has been a national leader in preparing educators who create effective and equitable learning and in supporting researchers who discover the new knowledge that strengthens and advances their endeavors. As a professional school within Rutgers, a premier public research university and New Jersey’s state university, the GSE is uniquely positioned to offer rigorous master’s and doctoral degree programs as well as research-based professional education for teachers, administrators and other education leaders.

Established in 1766, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is America’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning and one of the nation’s premier public research universities, serving more than 65,000 students in locations throughout the state.