Dianne Gereluk reappointed dean of Werklund School of Education

I am excited to announce that Dr. Dianne Gereluk, PhD, has been reappointed for her second term as dean of the Werklund School of Education. Following Dr. Gereluk’s confirmation of her willingness to be considered for reappointment, an advisory review committee was established. This committee considered Dr. Gereluk’s performance during her first term as dean and invited and reviewed feedback from those within the Werklund School of Education and our community. The committee’s recommendation and feedback were shared with President and Vice-Chancellor Ed McCauley, PhD, who was pleased to accept the recommendation and proceed with renewal­­­.

Dr. Gereluk, a distinguished scholar and transformative leader, formally joined the University of Calgary in 2011 as a tenure-track faculty member in education.

She has an international academic background, holding a PhD in educational foundations and policy studies from the Institute of Education, University College London (UCL). She is also a UCalgary alumna with a Master of Arts in educational policy and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta. She is a distinguished scholar whose research examines educational policy and practice related to politically contested and controversial issues in education including gun violence, gender and sexual identity, and youth radicalization. Studying the role educators play in fostering robust political deliberation in an increasingly polarized civil society is a primary interest. Her research background continues to influence her role as dean, thinking about how to create the conditions for quality programming with leading research that is responsive to learners, educators and communities toward a socially just world.

In her role as dean, she has renewed the Werklund School’s commitment to child well-being, opening the Centre for Wellbeing in Education, and has prioritized reconciliation and Indigenization with significant strides forward to improve the learning journey for Indigenous students in a good way.

Under her leadership, the Werklund School jumped 100 spots in the QS World University Rankings to place 53rd in the world and 4th across Canada.

In her second term, Dr. Gereluk will continue to amplify the efforts to make Werklund School a leading faculty of education globally, with also an attentiveness to being locally responsive to the many diverse communities that Werklund serves. Her ability to unite and inspire our community is integral to our mission.

I would like to express my gratitude to the members of the advisory review committee, which I chaired, for their participation in this process: Robert Thompson (vice president, research), Amy Burns (academic staff representative), Sarah Eaton (academic staff representative), Kim Lenters (academic staff representative), Erin Spring (academic staff representative), David Stewart (TUCFA representative), Nick Holt (decanal representative), Angie Crowley (MaPS representative), Judith Berzins (AUPE representative), Sandra Amin (SU representative), James Steele (GSA representative), Hieu Ngo (GFC representative), Kristine Bauer (GFC representative) and Christine Cheung (community representative).

Please join me in congratulating Dianne as she continues her work at UCalgary.

Penny Werthner, PhD
Provost and Vice-President (academic)