Distinguished professor Phillip VanFossen named Suzi and Dale Gallagher Dean of Education

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Phillip J. VanFossen arrived at Purdue University as an assistant professor of education nearly three decades ago. Now, capping a long and distinguished faculty career and coupled with recent interim duties leading the College of Education, he is confirmed as Purdue’s Suzi and Dale Gallagher Dean of the college.

VanFossen, the director and James F. Ackerman Distinguished Professor of Social Studies Education at Purdue, has served as interim dean of the College of Education since June 2022.

“In his role as interim dean and his many years as a Purdue leader and distinguished faculty member, Professor VanFossen has developed a close-knit community of faculty, staff and students within the college,” Purdue Provost Patrick Wolfe said. “I’m so pleased to be able to name him as the clear and obvious choice to be our next Suzi and Dale Gallagher Dean of the college, leading us through the change necessary to best prepare the classroom leaders of the future.”

As dean, VanFossen will continue to lead interdisciplinary teacher education programs from across the various colleges that help prepare future P-12 teachers at Purdue. He also will accelerate the college’s partnerships with local and national educational leaders, ensuring that Purdue’s teacher preparation programs and research efforts continue to strengthen.

“I am honored to take on the official role as dean of the College of Education,” VanFossen said. “I look forward to continuing our efforts to move the college forward in the fast-changing world of AI and other areas. And I will leverage the momentum we have built through our cutting-edge curriculum to transform our teacher education programs — as well as our other highly successful, nationally ranked programs across both departments.

“I have been blessed to be a part of this tremendous university in preparing the next generation of teachers and am proud to continue to be the College of Education’s ‘cheerleader in chief’ sharing the amazing successes of our students, faculty and staff.”

VanFossen has held various leadership roles in the College of Education since joining the Purdue faculty in 1997. These have included associate dean for learning, head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and director of the Ackerman Center for Democratic Citizenship — an endowed center in the college. He also has served as faculty athletic representative for Purdue since 2017, working with the university’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and serving as a liaison with the Big Ten Conference and the NCAA.

His research interests have ranged from K-12 economic education, internet use in social studies classrooms, and the potential of online role-playing games for K-12 civic and economic education to the impact of technology on citizenship and citizenship education, the intersection between civics and economics, and the degree of social studies in K-5 curriculum.

VanFossen was selected as a University Faculty Scholar in 2002 and a Council of Independent Colleges Academic Leadership Program fellow in 2009. In 2015, he was named the outstanding teacher for what’s now the Mitch Daniels School of Business. He also has been selected three times as the Purdue chapter of Kappa Delta Pi’s Outstanding University Professor and won the Abbejean Kehler Technology Award from the National Association of Economic Education in 2014. He was inducted into Purdue’s Book of Great Teachers in 2023.

A native of Ohio, VanFossen earned his PhD in social studies, global education, economics and teacher education from Ohio State University in 1994, and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees in education from Miami University in Ohio.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 106,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 57,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its integrated, comprehensive Indianapolis urban expansion; the Mitch Daniels School of Business; Purdue Computes; and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.