Grassa O'Neill Returns to HGSE

Acting Dean Richard Murnane announced today that Mary Grassa O’Neill, former superintendent of schools in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, will rejoin the Harvard Graduate School of Education as senior lecturer and acting director of the Programs in Professional Education (PPE) at the end of August. Prior to joining the Archdiocese, O’Neill had served as an Ed School lecturer and managing director of PPE.

“It's exciting to be rejoining the HGSE team,” Grassa O’Neill said. “I look forward to working with the outstanding faculty, the excellent staff, and the very talented students.”

As superintendent of schools in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston for the past five years, O’Neill reorganized the Catholic Schools Office, increased early education enrollment by 17 percent, supplied tools and data to help the district thrive, and expanded partnerships between the central office and schools.

“Please join me in giving Mary a very warm welcome back,” Murnane said. “We look forward to Mary’s contributions to our School Leadership Program, to our efforts to envision and plan online offerings for school leaders using the edX platform, and, most importantly, to the leadership of PPE during the next academic year.”

Prior to joining HGSE in 2004, O’Neill served for 10 years as superintendent of the Milton Public Schools in Massachusetts. Previously she had been a teacher, curriculum advisor, principal, and zone superintendent in the Boston Public Schools.