After conducting a national search, the University of Central Florida has selected Pamela S. Carroll as its new dean of the College of Education and Human Performance.
Carroll comes to UCF from Oklahoma State University, where she has served as dean and director of professional education and the Stella V. Anderson Endowed Professor of Education for the past three years.
“We are excited to have Dr. Carroll join our UCF family. I know she will do an extraordinary job in capitalizing on the great work we already do and advancing research, teaching and engagement in our College of Education and Human Performance,” said A. Dale Whittaker, UCF provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Carroll is looking forward to returning to Florida. She was associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Education at Florida State University and a faculty member there for 21 years, also serving in various administrative roles, including department chair and program coordinator.
Carroll also served as an assistant professor at Georgetown College in Kentucky and specializes in teacher education and adolescent and young-adult literature. Carroll is an at large executive board member for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. She received her doctoral degree in education from Auburn University, the same institution her parents attended.
The Georgia native said she is eager to join UCF’s family.
“My imagination was captured by the sense of possibility and energy that UCF exudes across the campus,” Carroll said. “That energy is apparent in the faculty, students, administrators, and community stakeholders. As I learned more about the university’s priorities I found that they align beautifully with the values that have been important to me throughout my career as an educator.”
Carroll, or Sissi as she prefers to be called, was inspired to pursue teaching because of her family. She taught her twin brother and her older brother “a thing or two” from very early on. Carroll’s older sister Peggy was born with an extreme intellectual disability.
“I wondered, as a child, why I could talk, understand television shows, play with friends, and Peggy could not enjoy any of those things,” Carroll said. “I also noticed that she never got angry or sassy like I did, but that she smiled and giggled whenever one of the family gave her a hug. From Peggy, I learned that being able to think and to learn is a gift.”
Carroll plans to move in July with her husband, Joe Donoghue, her dog, Sunny, and cat, Carl Sandburg, named after the late poet. Donoghue will become a professor of geosciences in the College of Sciences.
Carroll will be taking over from Grant Hayes, who served as interim dean since September. He will be joining East Carolina University in July as the new dean and distinguished professor in its College of Education.