Dean's Office

Jeffrey Gorrell, Dean

Jeffrey Gorrell, Ph.D., is Professor of Education and Dean of the Graduate School of Education. He earned his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at the University of Florida in 1975; his master's in English from the University of Florida, and his bachelor's in English from Vanderbilt. Prior to coming to George Mason University in May 2001, he was the Associate Dean for Administration and Research in the College of Education at Auburn University. He has also been Department Head in Educational Foundations, Leadership, and Technology at Auburn University and, early in his career, held various roles as a faculty member at Southeastern Louisiana University.

He has published research studies extensively in the areas of teacher education, teacher efficacy, cognitive modeling in learning, and related topics. He has provided leadership to professional organizations such as the American Educational Research Association, Holmes Partnership, Mid-South Educational Research Association, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, as well as serving as reviewer or editorial board member for numerous journals. From 1993 to 2001, he was editor and executive editor of The Professional Educator, a national refereed journal related to teaching, teacher education, and teacher professional development.

In 1987, he was a Fulbright Scholar to Sri Lanka, which led to his continuing research on teachers and on cognitive development of children in Sri Lanka as a research consultant for the Sri Lanka National Institute of Education. In recent years, he has also conducted studies in cognitive development and teacher efficacy in Brazil, Korea, and Taiwan. Most recently, he has been the principal investigator for a variety of evaluation studies related to school improvement and reform. These evaluation studies include the following: South Florida Annenberg Challenge, the Learning Connections Project in New Orleans, and Celebration School, Celebration, Florida. In the past five years, he has obtained over $2,000,000 in external funding for research and evaluation studies.

Martin Ford, Senior Associate Dean

Dr. Ford's work focuses on the psychological and social processes contributing to the development of competence in children, adolescents, and adults. He received his Bachelor's degree from Penn State's College of Human Development in 1975, and his Ph.D. in Child Psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1980.

Ford's current work addresses the motivational foundations of personality, intelligence, and competence development. He is the creator of Motivational Systems Theory (Motivating Humans: Goals, Emotions, and Personal Agency Beliefs, Sage, 1992), and has developed with co-author C.W. Nichols the Assessment of Personal Goals (Mind Garden, in press) to facilitate basic and applied research on motivational processes in education, counseling, and business. He is also co-editor with his father, Donald Ford, of a volume designed to illustrate the utility of a living systems approach for human development researchers and professionals (Humans as Self-Constructing Living Systems: Putting the Framework to Work, Erlbaum, 1987).

During his 13 years at Stanford University Ford received the Division 15 Early Contribution Award (1983) and Division 7's McCandless Young Scientist Award (1987). In 1993 he moved to George Mason University to help facilitate the growth of its Graduate School of Education, where he applies motivational principles on a daily basis in his role as Senior Associate Dean.

Joan Isenberg, Associate Dean for Outreach and Program Development

Dr. Isenberg is Associate Dean for Outreach and Program Development and Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education. She is responsible for facilitating the coordinated growth of CEHD’s non-degree outreach activities, the effective development of new and existing academic programs, and the timely reporting of partnership and program information required by various external constituencies.

Prior to her appointment as Associate Dean at George Mason University, Dr. Isenberg was responsible for designing and developing the early childhood licensure and post-licensure programs and the advanced master’s degree program aligned with standards from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Her primary teaching interests are in teaching and learning, teacher quality, creative arts, and teacher research. She has received two distinguished faculty awards for teaching excellence and was a finalist for the Virginia State Council of Higher Education teaching excellence award. Before joining the Mason faculty, Dr. Isenberg taught young children and held administrative positions in both public and private school settings.

Dr. Isenberg has published books, journal articles, and review articles on early childhood education and early childhood teacher education, particularly in the areas of teachers' professional development, school change, and children's creative expression and play. All of her writing and publications are integrally connected with her teaching.

She is the past president of the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators and the Metro Washington Association for Childhood Education International. She has served on the Board of Examiners for NCATE as well as on numerous advisory boards for refereed journals and associations.

Ellen Rodgers, Associate Dean for Teaching and Academic Affairs

Dr. Rodgers is the Associate Dean for Teaching and Academic Affairs in the College of Education and Human Development and Director of the Center for Recreation and Tourism Research and Policy (CRTRP). She received her B.A. in Mathematics and Computer Science and Recreation and Leisure Studies from Hood College; a M.A. in Recreation Planning and Methodology from The University of Maryland; and a Ph.D. in Recreation and Parks (Natural Resource Management) - specializing in Management Information Systems and Public Administration/Community Systems Planning - from The Pennsylvania State University.

Her areas of interest are in the human dimensions of natural resources; research methodology and evaluation; social psychology of leisure; demography and community/park planning. Dr. Rodgers has authored a body of research in refereed journals, book chapters, book-length monographs, and other publications; has secured well over one million dollars in extramural funding; and has delivered a broad range of scholarly presentations regionally, nationally, and internationally.

She has worked as an educator, consultant, research analyst, public administrator, and planner. Prior to employment in 1999 with Mason, Dr. Rodgers held positions as a Senior Planner/Research Associate with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and Assistant Professor in Recreation at The University of Maryland (where she currently holds Adjunct Graduate Faculty status). She has held leadership roles in numerous professional organizations and on journal editorial boards currently serving as co-editor for the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, and on the Board of Directors of the National Recreation and Park Association (Society for Park and Recreation Educators) and the National Committee for the Peer Review of Scholarly Teaching.

Peter Barcher, Associate Dean for Research

Peter Barcher is Associate Dean for Research in the College of Education and Human Development. He works closely with faculty, staff and students on matters pertaining to their research, especially with respect to securing extramural support through grants and contracts. During his career Dr. Barcher has served as PI/PD on over forty sponsored projects which have supported research, faculty and program development, international programs, economic and institutional development and other activities.

Prior to joining GMU Dr. Barcher was at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he served as Associate Dean for Research and Program Development in the School of Business. Before coming to UW-Madison in 1993, Dr. Barcher spent nineteen years with the State University of New York, where he held both faculty and senior administrative positions. During this period he received several awards from the campus and the SUNY System administration for his leadership and entrepreneurship. He also served as Visiting Professor and Program Development Officer in the College of Business at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

His research has been published in the Journal of Educational Psychology, American Journal of Mental Deficiency, Applied Research in Mental Retardation, and elsewhere.

Dr. Barcher received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in psychology from Syracuse University.

Contact Us

Dean's Office
College of Education and Human Development
Robinson Hall A, Room A255
tel (703) 993-2008 or (703) 993-2004
fax (703) 993-2001
mailstop 2F1

Mailing Address:
Dean's Office
College of Education and Human Development
George Mason University
4400 University Drive, MSN-2F1
Fairfax, VA 22030