A to B: Don Heller, Ed.M.'92, Ed.D.'97

The year was 1989, and I was trying to convince my then-girlfriend, who lived two hours away in western Massachusetts, to move closer to me in Somerville. I was working in information technology at MIT, and she was a special education teacher in the Berkshires, interested in becoming certified as a school administrator. I was tired of an every-other-weekend commute from Somerville out west on the Mass Pike so we could be together, so I came up with the brilliant idea that she should attend a graduate program in the Boston area rather than at UMass Amherst or North Adams State College, where she had been looking.

In the fall, she took a Friday off from teaching and drove Thursday night to Somerville, so that she could attend an open house at a couple of education schools in the area. I also took Friday off in order to keep her company. The first one we attended was at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. I remember very clearly two things from that day. First, when some of the faculty got up to describe their work, Bob Brennan, instructor in education, ended his presentation by saying, "I have to wrap up — I'm suffering from PMA. That's Parking Meter Anxiety, for those of you not familiar with this Cambridge ailment." And second, I was surprised to learn that one could get a graduate degree in a field called "higher education." I had never heard of such a thing and always thought of education schools as places where teachers went.

I walked away from that day with some information sheets and a catalog in hand and, after looking through the materials, decided to apply to the Ed.M. Program. Somewhat to my surprise I was accepted, and I attended part time while continuing to work at MIT. Twice a week, I would get on the red line at Kendall and ride two stops to Harvard Square.

The master's program got me hooked, and I stayed on for the doctoral program in administration, planning, and social policy after quitting my job. I had the chance to work as a teaching fellow and research assistant, and these opportunities whetted my appetite for a faculty career — a switch from my entrance to the doctoral program, when I thought I would continue as a university administrator.

I was fortunate enough to land a faculty position at the University of Michigan after graduation, where I specialized in higher education policy and economics. I subsequently moved on to Penn State for a decade, and last January, I began a new position as dean of the College of Education at Michigan State University.

And that woman whom I accompanied to the open houses? Well, she was not that impressed with the Ed School, but I did convince her to go to graduate school in Boston nonetheless. She enrolled at Wheelock College, where she received a master's degree and became certified as a principal and special education director. And last year Anne Simon and I celebrated 20 years of marriage together.

— Don Heller, Ed.M.'92, Ed.D.'97, is dean of the College of Education at Michigan State University.