Dan E. Sweat Lecture Series
Dan E. Sweat Distinguished Chair in Educational and Community Policy
As a memorial to visionary leadership and commitment to the community and to learning in all forms, Georgia State University has created the Dan E. Sweat Distinguished Scholar Chair in Educational Community Policy. Ross Rubenstein currently holds this position.
The 2023 Dan E. Sweat Lecture
March 7 at 10:30 AM – Laura Perna
“Improving College Access and Affordability: The Promise of Free Tuition Programs”
Laura Perna is Vice Provost for Faculty, GSE Centennial Presidential Professor of Education, and Executive Director of the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (AHEAD) at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). She is an expert in college access, affordability, and success, especially for low-income, first-generation and non-traditional students, and has testified before Congress and advised university leaders and policy makers on these issues. Through a multi-faceted program of research, she and her research team are advancing knowledge of college promise programs. Dr. Perna has served as President of the Association for the Study of Higher Education and is a past chair of Penn’s faculty senate. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Education and Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. She holds bachelor’s degrees in economics and psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and earned her master’s in public policy and Ph.D. in education from the University of Michigan.
2022
Sean Reardon (Stanford University: Professor of Poverty and Inequality in Education & Professor of Sociology)
2020
Mark D. Weist (University of South Carolina: College of Arts & Sciences Professor of Psychology)
2019
Charles Clotfelter (Duke University: Smith Reynolds Professor of Public Policy & Professor of Economics & Law)
2018
Amy Ellen Schwartz (Syracuse University: Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, New York University: Institute for Education and Social Policy)
2017
David N. Figlio (Northwestern University; Dean of the School of Education and Social Policy, Institute for Policy Research Fellow)
2016
Susan Dynarski (University of Michigan: Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, School of Education, and Department of Economics, and Institute for Social Research)
2013
Sarah Turner (University of Virginia and National Bureau of Economic Research)
“Public Universities: Challenges of the Great Recession for Students and Faculty”
2012
Brian Jacob (Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy and Professor of Economics, University of Michigan)
“Does Raising Educational Standards Raise Student Achievement?”
2011
Analysis and a Co- Director of Policy Analysis for California Education [PACE]at Stanford University)
“Understanding School Leadership: The Importance of Organizational Management and Personnel Practices”
2009
Amy Stuart Wells (Center for Understanding Race and Education (CURE) at Teachers College, Columbia University)
“Metro Migration, Racial Segregation and School Boundaries: Education Policy in Changing Suburban and Urban America”
2007
Richard J . Murnane (Harvard Graduate School of Education)
“Preparing Students to Thrive in the 21st Century Economy”
2006
Jane Hannaway (The Urban Institute)
“Accountability and the Classroom: A New Light Inside the Black Box of Schooling”
2005
Eric A. Hanushek (Hoover Institute at Stanford University)
“The Economic Importance of School Quality”
2004
Ronald F. Ferguson (Werner Center for Social Policy)
“The Racial Gap in Education Outcomes: Confronting the Challenge”