New York – After a eight-month search, James Hennessy, Ph.D., has been named dean of the Graduate School of Education. Hennessy began his Fordham career in 1974 as the coordinator of counseling programs and later became chair of the Division of Psychological and Educational Services. He spent the past six months as interim GSE dean, following the departure of Regis Bernhardt, Ph.D., in July 2004.
Building on the success of faculty and his predecessors, Hennessy hopes to position GSE as the preeminent Jesuit graduate school of education in the country.
“To reach that goal we will have to continue to develop our strong programs, which enjoy national reputations, in teacher education, counseling and school psychology. And we have to put renewed emphasis on our programs in educational leadership,” said Hennessy. “We will have to increase our efforts to find alternatives to tuition as major sources of revenue, including seeking more grants and building a GSE endowment similar to that of the Law School.”
A licensed psychologist, school psychologist and counselor, Hennessy has co-authored four books, contributed chapters to 16 others and published widely in academic journals. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from St. John’s University and his doctorate in counseling psychology from New York University.
“In light of the many contributions that Dr. Hennessy has made to his discipline, his division, his school and the University, as well as the esteem in which his colleagues at the Graduate School of Education hold him, I am confident that he will serve the University with devotion and distinction as he takes up his new post,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham University.
