HGSE Welcomes New Faculty Members

The Harvard Graduate School of Education is pleased to welcome two newly appointed faculty members and to recognize two previously serving faculty members who have been appointed in new roles: Elizabeth Bonawitz, Nadine Gaab, Sebastian Munoz-Najar Galvez, and Houman Harouni.

Elizabeth Bonawicz has been named the David J. Vitale Associate Professor of Learning Sciences at HGSE, a role she will assume on January 1, 2021. As a developmental psychologist and a computational cognitive scientist, Bonawitz is recognized as a prolific scholar and researcher in her field. Prior to her HGSE appointment, she has been an associate professor in psychology at Rutgers University, where she investigated the mechanisms underlying the learning process, with a focus on how young children develop their perceptions of the world. She is interested in understanding the core constructs of learning, including causal reasoning, curiosity, questioning, and creativity, with a particular interest in understanding these phenomena in pedagogical situations.  
 

Nadine Gaab has been named associate professor of education, to begin on January 1, 2021. Currently, she is associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and has taught as an adjunct faculty member at HGSE since 2007. Her work explores the development of language and literacy skills in young children. In particular, she has used neuroimaging methods to advance progress on key issues pertaining to dyslexia and the infant brain. As part of Boston Children's Hospital's Laboratories of Cognitive Neuroscience, Gaab leads the Gaab Lab, whose research focuses on children diagnosed with, or at risk for, various developmental disorders, particularly language-based learning disabilities. Among other questions, Gaab is interested in the ways in which socioeconomic status may impact atypical development.   
 

Sebastian Munoz-Najar Galvez has been appointed the Bluhm Family Assistant Professor of Data Science and Education. Previously, Galvez earned a Ph.D. in the sociology of education at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education, where his work with computational linguistics and network analysis explored questions of diversity and cultural shifts in science and education. A quantitative researcher interested in the “sociology of knowledge” and the “sociology of science,” Galvez offers expertise in the collection and analysis of large amounts of text-based data. In addition, he runs projects in both U.S. K–12 schools and international settings that promise to inform the future of educational policy and practice. 
 

Houman Harouni, Ed.M.08, Ed.D.’15, has been named lecturer on education, after previously having served as an annual lecturer. A practice-based theorist of culture and education, Harouni has been a consultant on leadership and education, a Spencer fellow at the National Academy of Education, a postdoctoral fellow at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a presidential fellow at Harvard University. Prior to entering academia, Harouni worked as a teacher and administrator in alternative and public schools. At HGSE, he is committed to pedagogical experimentation, which he practices in his popular courses on critical theory, identity, politics, and leadership.

Previously, it was announced that Susan Dynarski will be joining HGSE as a professor of education, to start July 1, 2021.