UNLV President David Ashley announced today that M. Christopher Brown II, Ph.D., has been selected as the next dean of the UNLV College of Education. Brown, who currently serves as vice president for programs and administration with the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), will assume his new role at UNLV effective July 1, 2007.

"Christopher Brown comes to UNLV with an exceptional professional record," said UNLV President David B. Ashley. "His experience with the AACTE, which prepares teachers and school leaders for higher education positions, gives him a unique perspective for this position. He is an individual with great energy and talent - his leadership will allow the college and its faculty to further excel."

Brown began his career as an elementary school teacher in South Carolina. He received his B.S. in elementary education at South Carolina State University and his M.S.Ed. in educational policy and evaluation from University of Kentucky. He earned his Ph.D. in higher education from The Pennsylvania State University, where he is currently on leave from his faculty position in the College of Education to serve in a senior leadership role with AACTE.

Brown has gained an international reputation for his research and scholarly writing on education policy and administration. His research addresses issues of leadership and governance, post-secondary statutory and legal concerns, institutional history, and diversity. Brown is also known for his studies of historically black colleges, educational equity, and institutional culture. He has presented research in countries on six continents, and has authored or co-authored more than 90 journal articles and publications.

Brown's academic appointment at UNLV will be as a tenured professor in the department of educational leadership. Brown says he is thrilled to begin working with the talented faculty and students within the College of Education. "The boundaries of the College of Education at UNLV will be the boundaries of the campus, state, nation, global community and our collective imagination," he said. "The College of Education is poised to be a national leader in the arena of preparing professional educators if it carefully crafts a public image of new and existing activities."

M. Christopher Brown joined the faculty at Penn State after developing a nationally ranked higher education program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He currently oversees the management and support of the AACTE's research, programs and internal technology. He was previously the director of social justice and professional development for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) as well as former executive director and chief research scientist of the Fredrick D. Patterson Research Institute of the United Negro College Fund.