Dean's Lecture Series on Education and Society
The University of Maryland College of Education Dean’s Lecture Series provides a forum for faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members to engage with academic leaders and scholars from across the country. The series brings experts from a variety of fields to the University to share their experiences and insights, fostering meaningful dialogue around the grand challenges we face in education and society. The series is an integral part of the College's efforts to promote learning, development, wellbeing, equity, and social justice.
The Dean's Lecture Series is organized with the generous support of the Chuck and Nancy Clarvit Family.
The Work of Connection: Research, Leadership and the Conditions for Thriving in Education
featuring Tabbye M. Chavous, Executive Director, American Educational Research Association
Tuesday, October 27 | 3:30-6 p.m.
Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center
What does it take for people, institutions and fields of inquiry to thrive, particularly in periods of uncertainty, contestation and change? Drawing on nearly three decades of experience as a researcher, educator, institutional leader and now executive director of the American Educational Research Association, Tabbye M. Chavous will explore the role of connection in creating educational environments and professional communities in which people and ideas can flourish.
The lecture will draw connections among research on social identity, motivation, belonging, and educational climate; lessons from leading institutional change and advancing equity; and the responsibilities of researchers, educational leaders, and professional associations in the current moment. Chavous will engage attendees in considering what research teaches us about the conditions that enable individual and collective thriving, how leaders can translate that knowledge into institutional practice, and how the education research community can strengthen the relationships, structures, and public engagement necessary to sustain consequential scholarship and advance the public good.
Rather than offering a single prescription, the lecture will invite reflection on the choices, commitments, and forms of collective action needed to ensure that education research - and the communities and institutions it serves - remains relevant, rigorous, connected, and capable of meeting the challenges ahead.
RSVP by Oct. 19
About Tabbye M. Chavous
Tabbye M. Chavous became executive director of the American Educational Research Association in 2025, bringing over 27 years of experience and significant accomplishments in research, teaching, and organizational advancement. Chavous joined AERA from the University of Michigan, where she is a professor of education and psychology. She earned her PhD in community psychology from the University of Virginia and dedicated her career to educational equity, advancing strengths-based frameworks for studying the experiences of marginalized communities and working with educational systems to draw on this knowledge in ways that serve all students. Chavous' research centers social identity development among Black adolescents and emerging adults; achievement motivation processes among historically minoritized or marginalized students; and measurement of educational climates in secondary and postsecondary settings and implications for students' academic, social, and psychological adjustment. Chavous's scholarship underscores foundational research and its practical applications through integrity-grounded collaborations with schools and school systems; youth, families, and communities; and organizations at local, state, and national levels. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation, among others.
An experienced institutional leader, Chavous held positions at the University of Michigan at central administration, college, and department levels. These include vice provost for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer; associate vice president for research; director of the National Center for Institutional Diversity; associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; associate dean for academic programs and initiatives in the Rackham Graduate School; and chair of the Combined Program in Education and Psychology. Across her career, she has consistently advocated for high-quality, inclusive research, and equity-oriented leadership is evident in her approaches to building and transforming educational environments.
Past Lectures
- Class Dismissed: When Colleges Ignore Inequality and Students Pay the Price with Anthony Abraham Jack (October 23, 2025)
- The Power of Belonging Philanthropy and Transformative Research in Education with Na’ilah Suad Nasir, Ph.D. (September 10, 2024)
- Understanding and Confronting Politicized Attacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Education with Shaun Harper, Ph.D. (October 25, 2023). This event was co-sponsored with the Office of Student Affairs and University of Maryland’s Anti-Black Racism Initiative.
- From Prenatal to the Block: Reimagining the Geography of Opportunity with William F. Tate IV Ph.D. ’91 (September 28, 2022)
- Equity and Excellence in Maryland Education with William E. "Brit" Kirwan (April 19, 2019)
- Advancing the Civic Mission of Higher Education in Challenging Times with John B. King, Jr. (April 9, 2018)