11/19/97

CONTACT: Becky Wiseman, School of Education, (650) 723-2119
e-mail wiseman2@leland.stanford.edu
Elaine C. Ray, News Service (650) 723-7162;
e-mail elaineray@stanford.edu

Gumport named one of the Young Leaders of the Academy

Patricia J. Gumport, associate professor of education and director of the Stanford Institute for Higher Education Research, has been named one of the Young Leaders of the Academy and will be featured in an upcoming issue of Change magazine.

The distinction was announced by the Leadership Project, which conducted a survey earlier this year to identify individuals under the age of 45 who are likely to influence the future of higher education. The Leadership Project is a joint effort of Change, the American Council on Education and SallieMae.

"I am thrilled to receive this honor," said Gumport, who also is executive director and principal investigator of the National Center for Postsecondary Improvement (NCPI), a five-year, $12.5 million research project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. "As someone who studies higher education and works within higher education settings, I am optimistic about efforts on several fronts to find strength in our diverse interests, identities, skills and aspirations. However, at the same time, I remain deeply concerned about how our institutions can respond effectively to market demands, while preserving commitments to the long-term public interest."

The author of numerous journal articles and book chapters on organizational change in colleges and universities, Gumport is co-editor of American Higher Education in the Twenty-first Century: Social, Political and Economic Challenges, which will be published next year by Johns Hopkins University Press.

Before joining Stanford's faculty in 1989, Gumport was a postdoctoral scholar and assistant professor of education at UCLA.

She holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy and English from Colgate University and two advanced degrees from Stanford: a master's in sociology and a doctorate in higher education policy.

During her career Gumport has garnered an impressive list of honors, including the Outstanding Teaching Award from Stanford's School of Education in 1995 and the Early Career Scholar Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education in 1993.

This year's Young Leaders are the third group to be selected. In 1975, Change published the results of a survey in which 44 individuals were named. Three years later, in 1978, 100 leaders were chosen. This year's honorees will be featured in the January/February 1998 issue of the magazine.

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By Elaine Ray