USC Rossier honors five faculty at chair installation ceremony

On Feb. 20, at the Town and Gown Ballroom on the USC University Park Campus, USC Rossier celebrated five new chair appointments. The faculty appointed to these chairs are all women who are leaders in their fields.  This brings a total of 11 faculty at USC Rossier who now hold this honor

The concept of an endowed chair dates back to antiquity, when the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius honored four individuals with chairs in philosophy in 176 AD. The tradition was revived in the modern era in England in 1502 at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Whether in the Roman Empire, Renaissance England or the present day, the notion behind endowed chairs has always been the same: to honor the recipient, recognize the benefactor, and bring attention to an important area of the scholarship.  

Dean Pedro Noguera kicked off the evening with an introduction and recognized some of the event attendees, including donors Donna Attallah and Veronica and David Hagen, who are the benefactors of two of the professorships. USC Board of Councilors members Carol Fox, Michael Lizarraga and Darin Brawley, superintendent of Compton Unified, also attended the ceremony. USC Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Andrew Guzman joined in bestowing the honors.

“Each of our five honorees has displayed a steadfast commitment to academic inquiry and contributed to paradigmatic shifts within their fields of expertise,” said Noguera. “Their impact on our field and our society is profound, and each has earned the right to sit here today.”

USC Provost Andrew Guzman also provided opening remarks. He described chair celebrations as one of the most “incredible and joyous things I get to do.”  The celebrations “give us the opportunity to honor excellence in our community,” Guzman said. He also highlighted that chair appointments are voted on by the faculty.

“The fact that your peers have chosen you for this honor makes it even more special for a lot of reasons. One, because when one’s recognized by their peers in any field, that’s all the more special,” Guzman said.

Institutions of higher education are “the longest lasting institutions, non-religious institutions in the history of the world,” Guzman said. Universities recognize “that peer review is the best way forward … because when we achieve our goals of excellence in inquiry and knowledge and understanding, only the people at the forefront of the field can recognize who else is successful at the forefront of the field. …  For our five honorees today, that’s exactly what's happened.”

Following the Provost’s Guzman’s remarks, each faculty member was honored with introductions by Dean Noguera, starting with Associate Professor Yasemin Copur-Gencturk, who holds the Katzman/Ernst Chair in Educational Entrepreneurship, Technology and Innovation.

Life partners John Katzman and Alicia Ernset established this chair position in 2008 to harness the power of modern technology to train and certify teachers for a 21st-century learning environment that requires adaptability, creativity and reinventing long-held norms and practices within the teaching profession.

Copur-Gencturk embodies this vision every day through her work. Her research focuses on the identification and development of knowledge needed for quality teaching and student learning and understanding the role of teachers’ knowledge and implicit beliefs in equity in mathematics classrooms. Her recent projects identify ways professional development programs powered by artificial intelligence can help math teachers focus instructional time and resources to improve mathematics learning. Her Science of Teaching Math program is a research group that focuses on teachers’ acquisitions of knowledge and pedagogical skills and the transfer of these skills into their practice, with special attention to issues of equity. 

Copur-Gencturk devoted her remarks to thanking the many people who have made this accomplishment possible, from John Katzman and Elisa Ernst to Dean Noguera and her family. She also took the time to acknowledge one of her undergraduate professors who had a profound impact on her, Adnan Tarjan. Tarjan, who was her abstract algebra professor “made a huge impact on my future,” Copur-Gencturk said. “He not only allowed me to attend school when I risk being expelled from college for wearing a headscarf, but also advocated for me with other professors so that I could attend other classes as well. Doing the right thing was not easy—it never is—but that didn’t stop him.”

 

Professor of Education Jessica T. DeCuir-Gunby, who holds the Robert A. Naslund Chair in Curriculum and Teaching, was honored next.

Robert A. Naslund was a nationally known education consultant who shaped USC curricula. Naslund taught at USC School of Education from 1950 to 1976, ending his tenure as the founding chairman of its department of curriculum and instruction. The legacy of Robert A. Naslund continues in the professorship named in his honor.

The Naslund Chair in Curriculum and Teaching plays a vital role in shaping USC Rossier’s teacher preparation program, which provides participants with in-class experience and a well-rounded curriculum to better prepare them for a high-impact career in education.

At USC Rossier, DeCuir-Gunby’s research centers on three key areas: race and racial identity, applied research methods—particularly mixed methods research—and the intersection of emotions, coping, and experiences of race and racism. She also contributes to scholarship on the research process, guiding others in applying methodological approaches through a race-conscious lens.

Additionally, last year, DeCuir-Gunby was selected to serve as the executive director of the USC Race and Equity Center and named president of the American Psychological Association’s Educational Psychology Division 15.

In her remarks, DeCuir-Gunby reflected on her upbringing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The schools she attended were under-resourced but the teachers, she said, were amazing.

“My elementary school teachers and principal cared about me and all the children who looked like me. My teachers made sure they created academically rigorous activities that reflected the students in their classrooms. … That is what a good curriculum can do. That is what a good teacher can do. That is why curriculum and teaching are so important and why this chair means so very much to me.”

 

Next to be recognized was Professor of Education, Psychology and Neuroscience Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, who serves as the Fahmy and Donna Attallah Chair in Humanistic Psychology. 

Fahmy Attallah and Donna Ford created this chair position in 1997 to reflect the couple’s deep commitment to their professions: Fahmy, who earned a bachelor’s in psychology in 1955 and a master’s in education in 1956 at USC, worked for school districts in Los Angeles and Orange counties for two decades before devoting himself to private practice for an additional 10 years. Donna taught kindergarten and first grade in the Cypress School District for 40 years until her retirement in 2001. 

Mary Helen Immordino-Yang has gained international prominence through her work on the neural and psychological factors that support effective learning and teaching. Today, she serves as the director of the USC Center for Affective Neuroscience, Development, Learning and Education (CANDLE). Immordino-Yang’s work at CANDLE brings educational innovation and developmental affective neuroscience into partnership and uses what is learned to guide the transformation of schools, policy, and the student and teacher experience for a healthier and more equitable society. Her recent research on “transcendent thinking” has identified ways teens can grow their brains over time, which leads to increased life satisfaction. 

This work has influenced scholarship across the globe and was evident this week when Immordino-Yang announced a major grant from the Bezos Family Foundation to launch the CANDLE Innovation Lab.

In her remarks, Immordino-Yang reflected on the lives of Donna Atallah and her late husband, Fahmy.

“Fahmy was an immigrant. He dreamed, he loved, he wrote poetry. He thought, and he swam long distances. And you, Donna, were a teacher for 40 years. You lovingly stewarded our smallest citizens, beautiful little five- and six-year-old people into the possibilities that education can provide. Together, you and Fahmy decided to endow a chair in humanistic psychology,” Immordino-Yang said.  

Humanistic psychology, Immordino-Yang continued, “focuses on the person as a whole, as a developing being with infinite, emergent potentials. … The basic tenet of humanistic psychology is quite simple. It is that human beings are inherently good and worthy of love, and worthy of opportunities to learn in the service of self-actualization and in the service of doing good in society. … I promise to work hard to make this possible for all children.”

 

Next, Dean Noguera introduced Professor of Clinical Education Maria G. Ott, the Irving R. and Virginia A. Melbo Chair in Education Administration.

The Melbo Chair in Education Administration was established in 1973 following Irving R. Melbo's retirement as Dean of USC Rossier. The Melbos believed that all USC Rossier graduates should be prepared to serve as leaders in the state and nation, providing exemplary educational expertise and influencing the direction of education. Currently, over 85 USC Rossier graduates are California K–12 superintendents responsible for one-third of the state’s schoolchildren. 

Ott served more than 40 years as a K–12 educator, including fourteen years as a superintendent and five years as senior deputy superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. At USC, Ott designed and launched the USC Rossier Urban Superintendents Academy in 2015 in partnership with AASA, The School Superintendents Association, to prepare diverse and equity-minded leaders for K–12 system leadership.  

Ott also plans and hosts the annual Melbo Lecture at USC Rossier, which features prominent speakers discussing important topics related to education leadership and innovation.

“I am sure that if Irving Melbo were still alive, he would be pleased to know that someone of the caliber of Maria Ott is holding this chair,” Noguera said in his introduction of Ott.

Ott thanked the many people who have given her support over her career, from her family to Kerry Matheson who supports the chair position.

Ott concluded by reflecting on the field of education administration. “We are writing a new and brave narrative about education that works for all students and strengthens our communities and society. Our highest aspirations and deepest passion for doing what is right guides us on this journey. We must fight on.”

 

The final faculty member to be recognized at the event was Professor of Higher Education Tracy Poon Tambascia, the Veronica and David Hagen Chair in Women’s Leadership.

This position was created in 2019 to support a chaired professor dedicated to the study of the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions and to provide coaching and mentoring to other women to assume leadership roles in education. The namesakes of this position, Veronica Hagen and David Hagen, funded this position to address this crucial equity issue in education. Veronica Hagen is a previous president and CEO of Polymer Group Inc., and her husband David Hagen, is a former member of the USC Rossier Board of Councilors and retired superintendent of the Huntington Beach Unified High School District. 

Tambascia embodies the goals the Hagens have for women’s leadership in education. She was the first woman of color elected to serve as president of the USC Academic Senate and, prior to her appointment at USC Rossier, has held many prestigious positions in higher education.

Last year, Tambascia launched the USC Rossier Hagen Women’s Leadership Fellowship, which aims to strengthen pathways to professional success and attainment for EdD students focused on opportunities to attend or present at professional conferences. Currently, she serves as an American Council on Education Fellow and Chair of the WASC Senior College and University Commission. 

Tambascia began her remarks “with gratitude,” thanking the many people who helped her get to this point in her career. She also took the moment to reflect on her mother’s legacy.

“Recently, I was going through a box of my mother’s belongings, and among the many black and white photos I found, were airline ticket stubs and the immigration paperwork that was used to bring my family from Hong Kong to the United States in 1972. … The opportunities that I’ve had and the success I’ve enjoyed came about because of the decisions made by my mother and father to seek better educational opportunities and a better way of life for their seven children. … My parents didn’t have more than a high school education, but they knew that education and opportunity were the key to our future. They could not have imagined that I would be standing here today receiving an endowed chair.”

Before the evening’s reception began, Dean Noguera closed with a statement about recent actions by the new administration. “We received an advisory that there are certain words that are taboo. And one of those words was ‘woman.’ … Well, we’re going to be in trouble because we have five today who are so distinguished and so accomplished. I am so thrilled to have five distinguished scholars join us in these important roles.” 

 

Endowed Faculty Chairs & Professorships at USC Rossier

Yasemin Copur-Gencturk, Katzman/Ernst Chair for Educational Entrepreneurship, Technology and Innovation

Jessica T. DeCuir-Gunby, Robert A. Naslund Chair in Curriculum and Teaching

Shaun R. Harper, Clifford H. and Betty C. Allen Professorship in Urban Leadership

Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Fahmy Attallah Chair in Humanistic Psychology

Adrianna Kezar, Dean’s Professorship in Higher Education Leadership Les Wilbur-Evelyn Kieffer Professorship in Higher Education

Pedro A. Noguera, Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean’s Chair

Maria Ott, Irving R. and Virginia Archer Melbo Chair in Educational Administration

Lawrence O. Picus, Richard T. Cooper and Mary Catherine Cooper Chair in Public School Administration

Tracy Tambascia, Veronica and David Hagen Chair in Women’s Leadership

Brendesha Tynes, Dean’s Professorship in Educational Equity

Gale M. Sinatra, Stephen Crocker Professorship in Education and Distinguished Professor

John Brooks Slaughter, Dean’s Professorship in Education & Engineering, In Memoriam 1934-2023