Hamline University has named Dr. Nancy L. Sorenson as dean of its School of Education. Sorenson will begin her new role on July 1, 2012.

Sorenson has a wealth of experience in academic leadership positions. She hails most recently from Saint Mary’s College of California, where she served for ten years as dean of the School of Education. Prior to that, she spent six years at College of Charleston as dean of its School of Education. She also served four years as interim and associate dean of the College of Education at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

"Dr. Sorenson brings many successful years as dean of prominent schools of education, and we are fortunate that her experience and depth of knowledge as an academic leader and able administrator will benefit Hamline's students, faculty, and staff,” Hamline President Linda Hanson said. “She is a respected and influential advocate for teacher preparation, and we look forward to the exceptional community outreach her record of achievement will bring to the communities we serve."

Sorenson is well-published and has delivered many presentations at national and international conferences. She has served in several prominent roles, including as director of the management seminar for new assistant and associate deans on the board of the National Association of Academic Affairs Administrators, where she spent eight years as a member of that organization’s governing board. She has also served ten years as a member of the NCATE Board of Examiners.

She has held several prestigious and influential positions on national-level professional organizations, including her time as a reviewer for U.S. Department of Education Teacher Quality Grants, state representative to the Association of Liberal Arts Colleges of Education, and member of the American Associate of Colleges for Teacher Education’s committee on global and international education.

"It is rare to interact with a group of people as vital and committed to their work as those who make up the Hamline School of Education,” Sorenson said. “Together we face a future that will demand of us the highest levels of flexibility and creativity. I am convinced that the School of Education faculty and staff are eager to tackle the challenges that lie ahead. I am energized by the opportunity to work with them.”

Sorenson was named “South Carolina Administrator of the Year” in 1997 and won a Bush Leadership Fellowship in 1992. She earned her PhD in education with an emphasis on language and literacy development from Arizona State University. She also holds an MS in education with a focus on school administration and a bachelor’s of education with concentrations in English, fine arts, and library science from Bemidji State University.