June 2019

Susan C. Faircloth was unanimously elected by the AERA Executive Board in June as vice president of Division A (Administration, Organization, and Leadership). Faircloth’s appointment fills the role vacated by Mónica Byrne-Jiménez, who stepped down as of June 1 to focus on her new appointment as executive director of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA). Faircloth will serve out the remainder of Byrne-Jiménez’s term, through the end of the 2021 AERA Annual Meeting. As Division A vice president, she also serves as a member of AERA Council.

Faircloth previously served Division A as secretary, completing her term at the end of the 2019 AERA Annual Meeting. She has also served as a section chair and chair of the Dissertation of the Year Award Committee for Division A, and chair and program chair for the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas SIG.

Currently director of Colorado State University’s School of Education, Faircloth studies Indigenous education, moral and ethical dimensions of school leadership, and the education of culturally and linguistically diverse students. She serves on the editorial board for the Journal of American Indian Education and as senior associate editor of the American Journal of Education, and previously served as associate editor of the American Educational Research Journal. 

“Dr. Faircloth has a strong record of scholarship and service to AERA,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “I am confident that she will continue Dr. Byrne-Jiménez’s stellar leadership of Division A.”

Byrne-Jiménez Becomes UCEA’s Sixth Full-time Executive Director

Byrne-Jiménez started her new role as UCEA’s executive director on June 1. UCEA, established more than 60 years ago at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education, is a consortium of institutions of higher education committed to advancing the preparation and practice of educational leaders for the benefit of schools and children.

Previously an elementary bilingual teacher, bilingual reading teacher, and literacy instructional specialist in New York City, Byrne-Jiménez studies Latina/o identity and school leadership, social justice leadership preparation, faculty diversity and doctoral student experiences, and the role of alternative epistemologies in research and leadership.

Her work has appeared in the Leadership and Policy in Schools Journal, Frontiers in Education, the Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, the Handbook of Urban Educational Leadership, the Handbook of Research on Educational Leadership for Equity and Diversity, the Handbook of Research on the Education of School Leaders, the International Journal of Educational Research, the International Journal of Leadership in Education, the Journal of Latinos and Education, and Voices in Urban Education. 

“Dr. Byrne-Jiménez’ depth of experience will undoubtedly bring unique strength, focus, and commitment to UCEA’s mission,” said Levine. “AERA looks forward to working closely with Dr. Byrne-Jiménez on a wide range of issues.”