On April 20, Northwestern announced that Penelope Peterson, dean of the School of Education and Social Policy, was elected to the National Academy of Education along with 10 other education professionals.
Peterson, who has served as dean of SESP since 1997, called the title “honorific” and said she is excited about the news.
“I was totally surprised when I got the email message last week,” she said. “I was thrilled. I still am thrilled.”
According to a press release regarding the new appointments, the NAEd was founded in 1965 and “consists of U.S. members and foreign associates who are elected on the basis of outstanding scholarship related to education.” About 200 professionals currently serve on the academy.
Once elected, members serve on education-related study panels and work on NAEd professional development programs.
Gregory White, executive director of the NAEd, said via email that Peterson’s work on several high-profile texts and her success in academia made her a good fit for the award.
“Dr. Peterson is known for the highest quality scholarship for research in teacher quality and school reform efforts,” he said. “She has also demonstrated leadership in other roles, such as being the Dean of the SESP at Northwestern and by being a member of a committee of authors that produced the highly influential National Research Council publication ‘How People Learn.'”
White said currently elected members of the NAEd nominate, evaluate and vote for potential peers in their academy each year. Qualifications for future members include a “record of sustained and distinguished contributions to education through exceptional scholarship” and “highest quality and originality of research/practice.”
According to the press release, with Peterson’s leadership, SESP rose from a rank of 20 in “U.S. News and World Report” to consistently ranking in the top 10 schools of education in the nation.
Peterson is a former president of the American Educational Research Association, has advanced SESP as a “center of interdisciplinary scholarship and research” and co-authored “Restructuring the Classroom: Teaching, Learning and School Organization” and “Learning from Our Lives: Women, Research and Autobiography in Education.”
She also co-edited the third edition of the International Encyclopedia of Education and is a recipient of AERA’s Cattell Early Career Award.
Peterson attributed her success not only to herself, but also to the NU faculty and student body.
“It’s nice to have this honor,” she said. “I think one of the reasons I got elected was for my leadership of our school and my leadership nationally. And the reason we do so well at Northwestern with these types of things is because we have such wonderful students.”
University spokesman Al Cubbage said the election bodes well both for Peterson and NU.
“It’s a very rare and prestigious thing, so it enhances the University’s reputation the more members of our faculty that are elected to these prestigious societies,” he said. “It’s a good thing. Certainly (Peterson has) had a great career here at Northwestern.”
Peterson said she had no idea she was being considered for the position, and is focusing on the work she continues to do each day.
“I still really enjoy being dean,” she said, “after all these years.”
