Dr. Joan K. Smith, Dean

Joan K. Smith is in her 14th year as dean of the College of Education and is the first woman to hold that post. An educator for over 30 years, Dean Smith is nationally renowned as a scholar in the area of educational foundations as well as a state and national officer in several higher education administration organizations. Before coming to OU, she served as associate and interim dean of the Loyola University Graduate School where she also coordinated the programs of five research and teaching institutes. She has authored four books and over 65 articles and chapters in books on a broad range of topics including educational history, women's history and biography, historical perspectives on the education of minorities, and the development of teacher education. Dean Smith has edited two foundation journals and held offices in national societies and professional associations devoted to the foundations of education. She also has served as chair and member of the Board of Examiners for the National Council for Accreditation for Teacher Education (NCATE). She is the past president of the state's Associate of Colleges for Teacher Education (ACTE) and past president of the Council of Academic Deans from Research Education Institutions (CADREI). She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign and her master's and doctoral degrees from Iowa State University. In 1998, she was named the recipient of ISU College of Human Sciences' Virgil S. Lagomarcino Laureate award which honors graduates who are nationally and internationally recognized for their meritorious service or distinguished achievement in education. That same year, she was selected as the college's Teacher of the Year.

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