Marcelle Haddix, Ph.D. ’08 embarked on a new role as dean of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education in August. It’s a step she didn’t anticipate in her professional journey.
“I did not have the goal of becoming a dean of education. That was not something, if you had asked me a year ago, that was necessarily on my radar,” Haddix shared.
Her journey began with a bachelor’s degree in education to become an English teacher. From there, Haddix said, “I quickly realized that I wanted to broaden my education and my experiences, so I moved into roles in higher education—both teaching and student life, from resident life to advising.”
Marcelle Haddix, Ph.D. ’08
After completing a master’s degree in adult education in Wisconsin, Haddix moved to the east coast to take a role as the Director of Advising at Bentley University. “Those are really formative experiences for me: helping students to navigate higher ed,” Haddix shared. “And that was what led me to pursue a Ph.D.”
While pursuing a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Haddix’s dissertation focused on the linguistic and racial diversity of Black and Latina pre-service teachers in education. She drew on her cultural upbringing and identity to tap into her students’ sense of self and how they approach higher education.
Building A Network of Scholars
At the Lynch School, several faculty were instrumental in guiding Haddix in her pursuits and fostering her research interests. She describes taking classes with Dr. Maria Brisk and learning about bilingualism. “As a Black woman who grew up speaking an African American language, I never had a language to talk about that experience, and that was the basis for my research,” she said. A doctoral seminar on educational research with Marilyn Cochran Smith was her entry point to establishing a network with like-minded scholars, including Gloria Ladson-Billings, a professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where Haddix is now dean.
During her time at Boston College, she met Afra Hersi, M.Ed. ’02, Ph.D. ’07, who was studying a year ahead in the same doctoral program.
“To me, caring for the whole person is a deeply felt value that I learned over time. [At Loyola University Maryland], we have a lot of shared values that resonate back to my days at Boston College. The commitment to equity and justice, impact and community, and this idea of care for the whole person lives within the way we enact our mission.”
Afra Hersi, M.Ed. ’02, Ph.D. ’07
“I remember my first time meeting her,” Haddix said. “She was one of the students at the open house, and she certainly was a peer who inspired me and whom I admired deeply throughout my journey.”
Hersi currently serves as the dean of the School of Education at Loyola University of Maryland, a position she’s held since 2021.
Hersi worked as a high school teacher in Virginia and Massachusetts for nine years before committing to Boston College to pursue a master’s and then doctoral degree, both in curriculum and instruction. “I was very fortunate that I met some wonderful mentors and hit the ground running with research opportunities as a master's student,” Hersi shared. “I was quickly swept up into the BC community of scholars.”
A Formative Education
Their time at the Lynch School helped foster and instill a deep value for formative education in Hersi and Haddix. These values remain essential in their roles at the colleges they oversee.
“To me, caring for the whole person is a deeply felt value that I learned over time,” Hersi said. At Loyola University Maryland, a fellow Jesuit, Catholic university, “we have a lot of shared values that resonate back to my days at Boston College. The commitment to equity and justice, impact and community, and this idea of care for the whole person lives within the way we enact our mission.”
Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction
Haddix’s leadership as dean follows a similar approach to Hersi’s. “I think about the whole person within education, teaching, and learning. Being at a school of education that continues to embrace that—and to lead it—comes naturally for me.” As a creative herself, Haddix’s idea of holistic education is also shaped by her passions and hobbies outside of work: creative writing, dance, yoga, and art history. These parts of her personality inform her approach as an administrator, education leader, and scholar.
Though Haddix never thought she’d become a dean of education, the role has come naturally to her. “What excites me about this opportunity is the breadth and range beyond education. It’s a school of education that focuses on the arts, health, and education, and that made me feel that I was uniquely situated to lead here,” Haddix said.
Both women hope to empower students beyond academics to support flourishing in personal, professional, moral, and social dimensions. Acknowledging their educational and transformative experiences, they now look to the future - with hope for the next generation of scholars.