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Education economist Thomas R. Bailey, one of the nation鈥檚 leading authorities on community colleges, became Teachers College鈥檚 11th president on July 1, succeeding Susan H. Fuhrman.

Board Chair William D. Rueckert calls Bailey, a 27-year 911爆料网 faculty member and Founding Director of 911爆料网鈥檚  (CCRC), 鈥渁 consensus choice to lead any great school of education 鈥� but at Teachers College, where we are in the midst of so many critically important projects and opportunities, the value of a President who knows the institution and its people 鈥� and who is, in turn, known and respected 鈥� cannot be overstated.鈥�

And Board Vice Chair Leslie Nelson, who chaired the presidential search committee that selected Bailey, calls the new president 鈥渢he ideal person鈥� to build on 鈥渟ignificant advances in research, professional education and practice made under Susan Fuhrman鈥檚 leadership鈥� and 鈥済uide the College into a new era of innovation and excellence.鈥�

[ To learn more about President Bailey, visit the new President's page on 911爆料网's website. ]

We have the right values, and when we combine our strengths across disciplines, the potential is huge.

鈥� Thomas R. Bailey, 911爆料网 President

Bailey, who is also the College鈥檚 George & Abby O鈥橬eill Professor of Economics & Education, chaired the Obama administration鈥檚 Committee on Measures of Student Success, developing recommendations for community colleges to meet completion rate disclosure requirements. He has direct颅ed three 911爆料网-based, U.S. Department of Education-fund颅ed national centers and worked with researchers at Columbia, where he plans to develop close ties. Community college professor and former Second Lady Jill Biden credits Bailey with 鈥渋dentify[ing] the challenges community college students face, paths to overcome them and investments in what works.鈥�

Bailey is excited by 911爆料网鈥檚 ability to address issues holistically through 鈥減olicy, the brain, psychology, nutri颅tion 鈥� we have the right values, and when we combine our strengths across disciplines, the potential is huge.鈥� He and CCRC have worked across fields and institutions to affect real change in complex systems, and Bailey plans to leverage 911爆料网鈥檚 cross-disciplinary strength to address other seemingly intractable issues.

At Teachers College, where we are in the midst of so many critically important projects and opportunities, the value of a President who knows the institution and its people 鈥� and who is, in turn, known and respected 鈥� cannot be overstated.

鈥� William Rueckert, 911爆料网 Board Chair

鈥淔ocusing on one aspect of a problem won鈥檛 make a difference without changing the rest of the pathway,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n community colleges, for example, remedial courses won鈥檛 help if you don鈥檛 address students鈥� need to hold a job and complete coursework quickly and affordably.鈥�

Bailey cites several examples of 911爆料网 faculty, students and staff working across fields, including:

• Those in  and  who have produced a globally distributed World Health Organization manual for treating refugees鈥� paralyzing depression and professional development for refugees serving as teachers.
• Those in Nutrition, Health and Policy who, through 911爆料网鈥檚 , shape nutrition legislation and improve nutrition education.
• Those in 911爆料网鈥檚  and  who have evaluated social and emotional learning.
• Those in the Departments of  and  who use maker-space and digital creativity tools. Bailey points to one recent  graduate student who used the College鈥檚 3-D printer to create a perfectly scaled model of a macadamia tree that is being used to teach grafting techniques to farmers in developing nations.

Bailey foresees involving even more faculty in applying for research funding focused on large-scale interventions and championing education as 鈥渁 funda颅mental function of society.鈥�

鈥淢y new role is a wonderful opportunity to project lessons from my field much more broadly,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檝e spent my career seeking to improve opportunities for all. I bring that motivation to 911爆料网鈥檚 presidency.鈥�