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In Their Own Words
The Grossman Legacy
“Dean Grossman has been invested in thinking carefully about issues of culture, community, and climate at GSE. I believe that that will continue to be important for the School and its next dean as they build upon Grossman’s efforts”
John L. Jackson Jr.
Dean, Annenberg School of Communications
Incoming University Provost
Incoming University Provost
“Pam is a giant in her field. She’s not only a dean of a graduate school of education, she’s also, hands down, one of the leading scholars of teacher education in not just the United States but the world. … It’s probably not an accident that her research has informed her leadership. We are all people who are preparing and supporting educators, and she is leading us in figuring out how we are going to do that work. And she knows a lot about it because it is actually the center of her research.”
Associate Professor
Sarah Schneider Kavanagh
“Working with Pam has been one of the most enriching experiences of my career, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had her as a mentor and thought partner. Her leadership and vision have transformed the culture at GSE, and she has created a workplace where staff feel valued, heard, and respected. Her emphasis on valuing people and their experiences has inspired me, and I have incorporated this approach into my work.”
Emma Grigore, LPS’16, ML’20
First Chief People Officer of Penn GSE
“Pam really helped to nurture the environment where I was able to discover my life’s work.”
Wendy McCulley, WG’91, GED’16
Alumni Leadership Board Member
“Dean Grossman, thank you for showing us what a great leader looks like—a changemaker whose impact extends beyond the professional realm. Through your confidence in me, I’ve been inspired to find my voice and to support growth, change, and leadership for myself and those I serve.”
Miriam Harris
Financial Administrator and Member of the Committee on Race, Equity, and Inclusion
“Pam’s overall contributions to Penn GSE—and the University, as a whole—cannot be emphasized enough. It would be hard to isolate just one change that she’s made that has had the most impact. I believe the cumulative effect of her leadership and strategic decisions have moved the School into a very different echelon than where we were in 2015.”
Leslie Levin, C’97
Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid
“It’s just apparent that she’s made an enormous mark on GSE, in both qualitative and quantitative ways. And she has done it with just an enormous amount of grace. She has elevated the organization both from a place-to-work perspective, as well as from a market perspective.”
Eric Kaplan, GRD’10
Chief of Staff
“Just as I saw in class when teaching with her, she is a very good listener. She tries to figure out where every person stands, whether it’s the students or the various stakeholders she works with as dean. She listens. She is responsive. She tries to incorporate people’s perspectives into her decision-making. She is very committed to a leadership that is collaborative.”
Professor Sigal Ben-Porath
“I think if I could ever share one thing with Dean Grossman, it would be, on behalf of every Penn GSE student and every student that has had the opportunity to interact with GSE, a simple thank you. Because she steps up and she serves and she ensures that we, as GSE students, as a city, put our best foot forward every day under her leadership. So, she will be dearly missed, but her legacy will live forever.”
Tamir Harper
Current Master’s Student
“The way Pam supports my research in Cuba really showed me that she not only cares about Philly, but she cares about human rights and democracy and other countries—she cares about me as a faculty member and cares about what I care about.”
Associate Professor Amalia Daché
“Pam really helped to nurture the environment where I was able to discover my life’s work.”
Wendy McCulley, WG’91, GED’16
Alumni Leadership Board Member
“Dean Grossman, thank you for showing us what a great leader looks like—a changemaker whose impact extends beyond the professional realm. Through your confidence in me, I’ve been inspired to find my voice and to support growth, change, and leadership for myself and those I serve.”
Miriam Harris
Financial Administrator and Member of the Committee on Race, Equity, and Inclusion
“Pam’s overall contributions to Penn GSE—and the University, as a whole—cannot be emphasized enough. It would be hard to isolate just one change that she’s made that has had the most impact. I believe the cumulative effect of her leadership and strategic decisions have moved the School into a very different echelon than where we were in 2015.”
Leslie Levin, C’97
Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid
“I feel so grateful to have started my faculty career under Pam. I learned from her both as a mentor but also as a model of leadership. I’m very inspired by her in terms of both her kindness and encouragement, but also her very high standards and her belief that you really can meet those standards and still have a balanced, full life.”
Associate Professor Sharon Wolf, C’06
“Pam always focuses us on our mission as a school, and the educators, students, and communities we serve.”
Zachary Herrmann
Executive Director of the Center for Professional Learning
“Pam believes schools of education have an obligation to serve and to lead. And I think we can see that vision guiding almost all of the decisions and initiatives that she spearheaded—this commitment to serve the community as a leader for educational equity and innovation. … It’s easy for faculty to just get bogged down in our work and research, but I think Pam has been really effective in linking our work to that broader mission of the School.”
Associate Professor Abby Reisman
“It’s hard to overstate the influence Dean Grossman has had on my work. … [Her] presence at Penn and, relatedly, the institution’s clear commitment to teacher education, drew me to Penn GSE. It’s been a real privilege to have Dean Grossman on my dissertation committee. Her mentorship has pushed my thinking about what it would take to uplift the status of K–12 teaching as a profession in the US—just as she’s pushed the entire field to value the work of teachers.”
Maya Kaul
Current PhD Candidate