Les Black, Clinical Professor
Ph.D., University of North Texas
Watt Lesley Black, Jr. joins the SMU faculty after a 26-year career in public schools, beginning as a foreign language teacher and culminating with a successful 8-year tenure as principal at Blalack Middle School in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD. Dr. Black joined SMU as an adjunct professor in 2009, teaching campus level law and ethics.
Roxanne Burleson, Clinical Associate Professor and Director for the M.Ed. Accelerated Leadership Program
Ph.D., University of Texas at Dallas
Roxanne Burleson is a Clinical Associate Professor as well as serving as Director of the Accelerated Leadership Program within the Simmons School of Education & Human Development. Her research interests include education policy and governance of public and non-profit organizations.
Nick Gesualdi, Clinical Associate Professor and Director of the Aspiring Leaders Program
Ed.D., Vanderbilt University
Nick Gesualdi, Ed.D. is the Director of the Aspiring Leaders Program and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Education Policy and Leadership Department. Before joining SMU, Nick was the Director of Strategic School Support & Design for Fort Worth ISD where he helped to lead work around SB-1882 partnerships, charter authorization and monitoring, virtual learning response to COVID, as well as strategic planning initiatives around enrollment, budgeting, and school performance.
Akihito Kamata, Professor and Director of the Ph.D. Program
Ph.D., Michigan State University
Dr. Kamata is a Professor at Southern Methodist University (Department of Education Policy & Leadership, Simmons School of Education & Human Development; Department of Psychology, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences). Prior to joining SMU in 2013, Dr. Kamata was a Professor at the University of Oregon and Florida State University.
Leanne Ketterlin Geller, Professor, Texas Instruments Endowed Chair in Education, Director of Research in Mathematics Education and Faculty Fellow K-12 STEM Initiatives, Caruth Institute for Engineering Education
Ph.D., University of Oregon
Leanne Ketterlin Geller, Ph.D., is engaged in research and scholarship focused on supporting all students in mathematics education through application of instructional leadership principles and practices. She has served as Principal Investigator for federally and locally funded research grants emphasizing the development of formative assessment procedures in mathematics and valid decision-making systems for students with diverse needs in the general education curriculum.
Alexandra Pavlakis, Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dr. Pavlakis is an Associate Professor in the Education Policy and Leadership department at Southern Methodist University (SMU). She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a MSc. in Social Policy & Planning from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a MSc. in Teaching from Pace University through New York City Teaching Fellows Program, and a B.A. in History from Brown University.
Meredith Richards, Associate Professor
Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Richards is an Associate Professor of Education Policy and Leadership in the Simmons School of Education and Human Development. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Policy from the University of Texas at Austin and was an IES Post-doctoral Fellow in Education Policy and Methods at the University of Pennsylvania. She also holds a B.A. in Cognitive Science from the University of Virginia, a M.A. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from George Mason University. At SMU, she is responsible for teaching doctoral coursework in educational research methods.
Sandy Frost Waldron, Assistant Professor
Ph.D., Michigan State University
Dr. Frost Waldron is an Assistant Professor of Education Policy and Leadership in the Simmons School of Education and Human Development. She completed her Ph.D. in Education Policy at Michigan State University. She also holds a Masters of Public Administration from the University of South Florida and a Bachelor’s of Science in Education from the University of Miami. Prior to her Ph.D. studies, Dr. Frost Waldron also worked as a teacher and as a school admissions professional at both the PK-12 and higher education levels.
Dr. Frost Waldron’s research focuses on the politics of education, particularly how various stakeholders participate in the policy process. She uses qualitative methods and theories from political science and public policy help understand how language, images, and other symbols convey explicit and implicit messages about education policies and stakeholders.