Hynd to lead Mary Lou Fulton College of Education

George W. Hynd, dean of the College of Education and professor of educational studies and psychological sciences at Purdue University, has been named senior vice provost for education and innovation and dean of the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education at ASU. He also will be a Foundation Professor.

Hynd will coordinate the ASU team of education deans from all campuses. The team includes Mari Koerner, dean of the College of Teacher Education and Leadership at the West campus, who also has been appointed director of University Teacher Preparation, and the dean of the School of Educational Innovation and Teacher Preparation at the Polytechnic campus.

All deans of education at ASU will have responsibilities across the entire university.

“George is well-respected in the field of higher education and his leadership has helped direct the College of Education at Purdue into a national leader for addressing the critical need for more highly skilled teachers, particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education,” ASU President Michael Crow says. “He has committed himself to transforming teacher education in Arizona in ways that creatively meet the demand for teachers, as well as influence and transform the lives of children in the metro Phoenix area and beyond.”

“We were looking for someone who was an exemplary scholar as well as a strong leader, and we found that person in George Hynd,” says ASU Provost Betty Capaldi, who co-chaired the search committee with the College of Education’s interim dean, Sarah Hudelson. “He has a proven record of excellence in both academic and administrative pursuits.”

Hynd will assume his official duties Jan. 1. He will be visiting campus this fall on a regular basis.

“I am delighted to be joining the ASU family and participating in a leadership role in what I consider to be one of the most creative and exciting ventures in American higher education: ASU’s New American University,” Hynd says. “What attracted me to ASU was the opportunity to work with the faculty and university leadership in exploring new and innovative ways to prepare teachers and educators ready to meet the rapidly changing social and economic landscape that characterizes Phoenix and the state of Arizona. In particular, the faculty in the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education are some of the best and most productive in the country.”

As dean of Purdue, Hynd has led strategic efforts to connect faculty associated with the teacher preparation programs in the College of Education with faculty and colleagues in the colleges of science technology and engineering. A partnership with the College of Science led to the creation of the Center of Research and Engagement in Science and Mathematics Education (CRESME), a jointly funded effort to conduct research and engagement with schools in Indiana in the areas of science and mathematics education.

In addition to his administrative credentials, Hynd is a distinguished researcher. His National Institutes of Health-funded research has been devoted to gaining a better understanding of the neurobiological basis of childhood learning and behavior problems. His brain imaging research was the first to show that subtle alterations exist deep in the motor control regions of the brain in children who have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and that the magnitude of these deviations predict the degree of impulsivity and hyperactivity.

Before arriving at Purdue, Hynd was a distinguished research professor of special education and psychology and director of the Center for Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology at the University of Georgia.

Having begun his career as a school psychologist interested in the neurobiological basis of reading and other learning disabilities, Hynd completed post-doctoral training in clinical neuropsychology at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. He then was awarded a Fulbright fellowship in child neuropsychology to the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, where he recently received an honorary doctorate for his research on neurodevelopmental variation in the brains of children with developmental learning disabilities and ADHD.

Hynd has been the recipient of many other awards, including the Lightner Witmer Award for early career achievements and the Senior Scientist Award from the American Psychological Association, plus distinguished alumni awards from Pepperdine University and the University of Northern Colorado, distinguished research awards from the International Reading Association and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, among others. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the National Academy of Neuropsychology.

“George Hynd has been an exemplary dean for Purdue’s College of Education,” says Purdue’s provost, Sally Mason. “He has led the college to national prominence and improved its programs from top to bottom through his vision, administrative skill and dedication to strong scholarship. We will feel his loss deeply at Purdue, but he is pursuing a wonderful opportunity at Arizona State. I am grateful for his contributions and I wish him continued success.”

While Hynd admits it will be difficult leaving Purdue, he says, “The position at ASU is a terrific opportunity for me professionally, and I know it will be an exciting new venture for our family.”

Hynd brings with him to Arizona his wife, Alison, who is a child neuropsychologist, as well as his daughters Elise and Erin. Another daughter, April, is a nursing student in Hawaii and his son, Brian, is in flight school in Oregon.