The Rev. Paul Fitzgerald, S.J., senior vice president for academic affairs at Fairfield University, announced today that Robert D. Hannafin, Ph.D., an innovative educator and former business executive, has been appointed dean of the University's Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions (GSEAP). His appointment, which comes after an extensive national search, is effective July 1, 2014.

Dr. Hannafin, a Storrs, Conn. resident, comes to Fairfield from Long Island University (LIU), where he currently serves as dean of the College of Education, Information and Technology at LIU's Post Campus in Brookville, NY. Prior to that post, he was a director in the learning and development group at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and a former professor and curriculum developer at three top U.S. universities.

"I am delighted to announce that Dr. Robert Hannafin has accepted my invitation to become the next dean of GSEAP," said Fr. Fitzgerald. "Bob impressed the members of the search committee and the many faculty members, staff, students and friends of Fairfield University during the search process and especially during his extensive campus interviews. He is bright, innovative, eminently approachable, and a very quick study. He will be an excellent leader for the school and a great collaborator with the other deans in the development of cross campus partnerships and integrative academic programs."

Dr. Hannafin has a long history of leadership in both academe and business and has a deep understanding of Jesuit education, having received his MBA in finance from Fordham University. Dr. Hannafin also holds a Ph.D. in psychology in education from Arizona State University and a B.S. in accounting from St. Francis College.

"I am very excited to join the Fairfield community and GSEAP, which has a long and distinguished history of producing the highest quality educators and professionals," said Dr. Hannafin. "I look forward to joining a stellar group of faculty and students who are deeply committed to correcting society's inequities."

While at LIU, Dr. Hannafin oversaw eight academic units spread over three campuses, which offer many of the same programs as GSEAP. He developed the College's Vision and Strategic Plan and fostered an environment that promoted effective teaching and faculty development. Under Dr. Hannafin's leadership, the College made great strides toward integrating technology across the curriculum.

Dr. Hannafin's rich understanding of faculty development was borne, in large part, of his work as director in the learning and development group at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was responsible for instructor quality across the firm from 2008 to 2011. There, he fostered links among faculty performance, course design and delivery and overarching course and program outcomes.

Prior to that, Dr. Hannafin was an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Connecticut from 2004 to 2008. A member of the graduate faculty, he taught in the Integrated Baccalaureate Master's Program and was program head of Cognition and Instruction.

From 1997 to 2004, Dr. Hannafin was assistant/associate professor of curriculum and instruction at the College of William and Mary, where he taught both graduate and undergraduate courses in instructional design, education technology and educational psychology. He was the principal investigator on a large faculty development grant that built technology partnerships across K-12 public school faculty and university faculty and integrated service and scholarship.

Dr. Hannafin began his career in higher education at Auburn University, where he was an assistant professor of educational foundations, leadership and technology from 1995 to 1997.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Hannafin served as an instructional designer and trainer at Intel Corporation and as a mathematics and accounting teacher at Salesian High School in New Rochelle, N.Y. Prior to that, he established a career in banking, rising to the rank of vice president at Den Dense Bank in New York City.

Dr. Hannafin will succeed Faith-Anne Dohm, Ph.D., who is serving as interim dean this current academic year. Dean Dohm has, with great care and steady oversight, moved the school along through many important projects, not least of them being the reaccreditation process with NCATE, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, which will conclude this spring.

GSEAP is a nationally accredited school offering 20 graduate programs. Its accreditations include NCATE, the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), and the Connecticut State Office of Higher Education. For more than 60 years the School has prepared students for professional roles in public and private schools, allied health and human services agencies, and for profit and nonprofit businesses. Today, GSEAP enrolls two-thirds of all graduate students at Fairfield and engages faculty and students in public service while providing career development programs to professionals throughout and state and region.

Posted On: 03-01-2014 11:03 AM

Volume: 46 Number: 189