May 29, 2026
Dear Members of the UC Santa Barbara Community,
I am very pleased to join with Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost David Marshall in announcing the appointment of Dr. Jaime Lester as the next Jules Zimmer Dean of the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, effective July 1, 2026.
Dr. Jaime Lester is the Vice Dean and Professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. She previously served as a professor and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Strategic Initiatives in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at George Mason University, where she directed faculty recruitment strategy across 18 departments, incorporating structured bias review processes and equity-informed search practices, established an Inclusive Excellence Advisory Board and faculty fellows program to support recruitment and retention of diverse faculty, and revised faculty evaluation systems to improve clarity, accountability, and advancement pathways. At George Mason, she also served as Interim Director of the Higher Education Program, a faculty advisor in the Office of the Provost and the Office of the President, and a Faculty Fellow in the Center for Teaching and Faculty Excellence.
At Johns Hopkins, Dr. Lester led the Office of Academic Affairs, overseeing student affairs, enrollment management services, instructional design, advising, and assessment. She played a central role in the creation of a new multi-year academic strategic plan for the School of Education. Dr. Lester partnered with research centers and faculty to increase externally funded doctoral research assistantships, led new initiatives to support student success and retention, supported faculty in securing external funding for research and student support, advised tenure-track faculty, and facilitated cross-disciplinary networking initiatives to support collaborative development of new curricula and research. She also worked to create new degree programs, including online programs, as well as new partnerships across Hopkins and with community organizations.
Dr. Lester has over 50 peer-reviewed academic publications and research expertise in organizational change and collaborative leadership, with a particular emphasis on faculty development. Her publications regarding educational technologies, equitable workplace practices, and organizational change are broadly used in higher education practice, and she regularly consults on issues such as faculty workload, pedagogical innovations, and leadership. Dr. Lester’s research, which has been funded by federal and private organizations, including the National Science Foundation, includes projects that address faculty retention, student success, equity, and inclusive excellence.
Dr. Lester has bachelor’s degrees in English and women’s studies from the University of Michigan, and a doctorate and Master of Education in higher education from the University of Southern California. After joining the faculty at George Mason University in 2008, she was recognized as the university’s “Rising Star” nominee to the Virginia State Council of Higher Education in 2011 and was awarded the university’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2013.
We sincerely thank our search advisory committee, led by co-chairs Professor Richard Mayer and Professor Jin Sook Lee, for its advice and recommendations, following a rigorous national search. The members of the committee are listed below. We would also like to thank our Academic Senate Chair, vice chancellors, deans, faculty and staff colleagues, and many members of our campus community who provided important consultation, input, and advice throughout the process.
We are grateful to Interim Dean Jill Sharkey for her conscientious and effective leadership during the past academic year, as well as to former Dean Jeff Milem for his many contributions to GGSE and the campus during his tenure as dean.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Jaime Lester as she takes on this important new leadership role. She will bring high scholarly standards, extensive administrative experience, and an ability to create new programs. She has a strong record of innovation, collaboration, and consensus-building. We are confident that Dr. Lester will work closely with the faculty, building upon a strong foundation of research excellence and community engagement, to help the Gevirtz School thrive as it prepares to launch new undergraduate degree programs, and contributes to our future as a public research university.
Sincerely,
Dennis Assanis, Chancellor
Dean of Gevirtz Graduate School of Education Search Advisory Committee
Richard Mayer, Chair, Distinguished Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Jin Sook Lee, Co-Chair, Professor, Education; Associate Graduate Dean
Tarek Azzam, Professor, Education; Director, Center for Program Evaluation
Jon Clark, President, James S. Bower Foundation
Tim Dewar, Teaching Professor, Education; Teacher Education Program Single Subject Teaching Coordinator
Erin Dowdy, Professor, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology
Taylor Martin del Campo, GSA representative; PhD candidate, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology
Daisy Martinez, Staff representative; Career Development and Alumni Relations Coordinator, Executive Assistant to the Deans, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management
Rebeca Mireles Rios, Associate Professor, Education; Director, Center for Community Engagement
Janine Jones, Professor of School Psychology; Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Affairs and Anne and Michael Towbes Graduate Dean
Miriam Thompson, Associate Teaching Professor, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology; Director, Mind and Behavior Assessment Clinic
Elizabeth van Es, Professor, Education
Ty Vernon, Associate Professor, Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology; Director, Koegel Autism Center
Consultant to the committee:
June Betancourt, Director of Policy Compliance, Academic Affairs