HGSE Welcomes New Faculty For 2024-25 Academic Year

The Harvard Graduate School of Education welcomes the new academic year with the appointments of seven new members of its faculty: Phil Capin, Alejandro Ganimian, Rob Jenkins, Vesall Nourani, Ebony Perouse-Harvey, Melanie Rucinski, and Ying Xu.

Phil Capin  
Assistant Professor

Prior to joining HGSE, Capin was a research assistant professor for the Department of Special Education and a researcher for the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at the University of Texas at Austin. He has also served as a special education teacher and is a credentialed school administrator. Capin’s research focuses on improving reading instruction and assessment for children, particularly those with or at risk for reading disabilities. He has a Ph.D. in special education from the University of Texas at Austin.

Alejandro Ganimian  
Visiting Associate Professor 

Ganimian joins HGSE from New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, where he is an associate professor of applied psychology and economics. His research employs randomized controlled trials to answer questions of interest to economists and psychologists studying education. His research focuses on fundamental challenges of school systems in low- and middle-income countries. He received his Ed.D. in quantitative policy analysis in education from HGSE.  

Robert (Rob) Jenkins  
Lecturer on Education

Jenkins was previously the global director of education and adolescent development, Programme Group at UNICEF, which he first joined in 1995. Jenkins brings more than 30 years of experience in international development and humanitarian programming in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East to the Ed School. He previously served as the UNICEF representative to Jordan from 2014 to 2019, as well as the deputy director of the Division of Policy and Strategy at UNICEF headquarters from 2009 to 2014. Jenkins has a Ed.D. from the University of Bath.

Vesall Nourani  
Assistant Professor

Previously the director and lead researcher at the Development Innovation Lab and a senior research associate in the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics at the University of Chicago, Nourani recently served as a visiting lecturer at Makerere University’s School of Economics in Uganda. His research explores the roles knowledge and learning play in economic activity across sub-Saharan Africa. He earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at MIT.

Ebony Perouse-Harvey  
Lecturer on Education 

Perouse-Harvey previously served as an assistant professor at Southern Connecticut State University, while also teaching courses at HGSE for the past two years. Her main research interest and teaching practice centers around the creation of professional development that supports both special and general educators in recognizing the impact of the intersectionalities of race, class, gender, and disability in the classrooms, along with case management practices during the referral, support, and transition phases of the special education process. Perouse-Harvey received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan’s School of Education Teaching and Teacher Education Program. She also holds a master’s degree in special education: learning disabilities and a J.D. 

Melanie Rucinski  
Lecturer on Education

A recent Ph.D. graduate from the Harvard Kennedy School, Rucinski studied K–12 education policy with a focus on teacher labor markets and inequality in education. Her dissertation research was conducted in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, in which she studied students’ education and career pathways to inform policies to increase the supply and racial diversity of teachers in the Commonwealth. Her previous work on barriers to racial diversity at exam schools in Boston drew notable news coverage and was featured on WGBH and in the Boston Globe.

Ying Xu 
Assistant Professor

Previously an assistant professor of Learning Sciences and Technology at the University of Michigan’s Marsal Family School of Education, Xu’s research takes place at the intersection of education, psychology, and human-computer interaction. Her research focuses on designing AI technologies that promote language and literacy development, STEM learning, and wellbeing for children and families. Xu received her doctorate in language, literacy, and technology from the University of California, Irvine.