Texas Tidbits: McLendon named dean at Baylor School of Education

Michael McLendon (center) greets colleagues at Baylor University, where he has become dean of the School of Education and professor of higher education policy and leadership. (Baylor University Photo)

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Michael McLendon joined Baylor University’s faculty as dean of the School of Education and professor of higher education policy and leadership, effective July 1. McLendon held the inaugural Harold and Annette Simmons Centennial Chair in Higher Education Policy at Southern Methodist University and served as a professor and the associate dean for academic affairs at the Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Previously, he was executive associate dean and chief of staff at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education and Human Development, where he served 13 years as a professor of public policy and higher education. A native of South Texas, McLendon earned his Ph.D. in higher education policy from the University of Michigan, a master’s degree in higher education from Florida State University and an undergraduate degree in political science from Baylor. Before his academic career, he served as an aide to a member of the U.S. Senate and as a policy analyst on the Higher Education Committee of the Florida House of Representatives. 

Celeste Church named dean at HPU. celeste church130Celeste ChurchCeleste Church, associate professor of music at Howard Payne University, has been appointed dean of institutional research and effectiveness, a new role at the university. She will serve on the Deans’ Council and teach a reduced academic load in the music department.

Church joined HPU in 2004 and holds a master of church music degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a doctorate of musical arts degree from Texas Tech University. Her husband, Gregory Church, is associate professor of music at HPU.


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