HGSE Welcomes New Faculty Members

The Harvard Graduate School of Education is pleased to welcome three new members to its faculty:

Bianca Baldridge has been named associate professor of education. An educator and youth advocate, Baldridge’s research explores the sociopolitical context of community-based education and how the confluence of race, class, and gender shapes the experiences of Black and Latinx youth in these settings. She also explores the organizational and pedagogical practices employed by community-based youth workers amid educational reforms and restructuring. Baldridge's book, Reclaiming Community: Race and the Uncertain Future of Youth Work, examines how the privatization of public education undermines Black community-based organizations’ efforts to support comprehensive youth development opportunities. She was previously an associate professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Susan Dynarski was previously announced to be joining the HGSE faculty as a professor of education. Dynarski’s research focuses on understanding and reducing inequality in education, looking to assess the effects of charter schools, financial aid, postsecondary schooling, class size, and high school reforms on academic achievement, educational attainment, and long-term outcomes. Her work strives to make higher education more accessible — particularly for low-income and first-generation students — by lowering or removing barriers at multiple stages of college admissions, including by improving application processes and simplifying enrollment. She has also prioritized public scholarship, including her widely read columns in the New York Times and an energetic Twitter feed that nurtures a community of fellow scholars, students, and policymakers.

Gabrielle Oliveira has been named the Jorge Paulo Lemann Associate Professor of Education and of Brazil Studies. Her research focuses on immigration and mobility — on how people move, adapt, and parent across borders. Merging anthropology and education through ethnographic work in multiple countries, Oliveira also studies the educational trajectories of immigrant children. Her book, Motherhood Across Borders: Immigrants and Their Children in Mexico and in New York City, examines the experiences of families with members on both sides of the border, how immigrants parent from afar, and how families stay together. Recently, Oliveira has been studying Brazilian migration to Massachusetts with a focus on how immigrant children and families navigate newfound educational systems amid a global pandemic. She was previously assistant professor of Teaching, Curriculum, and Society at Boston College.

In addition to these new appointments, four faculty members — Hadas Eidelman, Timothy McCarthy, Alexis Redding, and Katherine Rieser — are moving into the role of lecturer on education after previously serving as annual lecturers at HGSE.