Following a nine-month search, IHE Fellow Michael K. McLendon has been appointed dean at Baylor University’s School of Education and will begin his service on July 1. McLendon currently holds the Harold and Annette Simmons Centennial chair in higher education policy and leadership at Southern Methodist University, where he serves as a full professor and the associate dean of SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development. He also holds appointment as a fellow both with SMU’s John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies and the University of Georgia’s Institute of Higher Education. McLendon earned his bachelor’s degree in political science in 1991 from Baylor, where he was president of several student organizations. Following his graduation, he served as an aide to U.S. Sen. David Pryor, in Washington, D.C. From 1992-1994, he worked as a policy analyst on the Higher Education Committee of the Florida House of Representatives, while completing his master’s degree in higher-education studies at Florida State University. In 2000, he earned his Ph.D. in higher education policy from the University of Michigan. From 1999-2012, McLendon served as a professor of public policy and higher education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. While at Vanderbilt, he held the inaugural role of executive associate dean and chief of staff at the Peabody College of Education and Human Development. During his 13 years on campus, he oversaw undergraduate education at Peabody, directed the college’s doctoral and masters programs in higher-education studies, led the university’s programs in education policy and chaired the academic policies and affairs committees of the University Senate, in addition to other roles. McLendon joined the faculty of Southern Methodist University in 2012 as professor of higher education policy and leadership and the associate dean for academic affairs at the Simmons School of Education and Human Development. In the Simmons Dean’s office, he oversees academic affairs and faculty development and leads a variety of strategic initiatives. Full press release by Baylor University. Type of News/Audience: General News
