Robert C. Pianta New Dean of the Curry School

President John T. Casteen III announced today that Robert C. Pianta has been named the eighth dean of the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education.

Dr. Pianta is an expert on early childhood education and teacher quality whose work spans the worlds of policy, practice and basic science. In addition to his teaching and research, he directs the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL).

Dr. Pianta, the Novartis U.S. Foundation Professor of Education and professor of psychology, foresees exciting times ahead for the school and his colleagues. “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve the University as dean,” he said. “And thanks to David Breneman’s leadership, I will inherit a strong foundation of programs and external support, a faculty that already is recognized for its excellence, support staff who provide real service every day of the week and students who are second to none.”

Dr. Pianta’s current research focuses on the effects of schooling on children's social and academic life and ways to improve the classroom experience through teachers’ professional development.

He also heads several interdisciplinary research and training efforts with more than $25 million in funding, including the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning, which he founded in 2005. CASTL’s mission is improving the educational outcomes of the nation’s children from preschool through grade 12 through scientific study of teaching and classroom learning.

The outgoing editor of the Journal of School Psychology, Dr. Pianta has published more than 300 scholarly papers and is the lead author of several books, including the recent "School Readiness and the Transition to Kindergarten in the Age of Accountability."

Dr. Pianta joined the University faculty after receiving his doctorate from the University of Minnesota. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Connecticut. Source: UVA Today Podcasts by Pianta and Casteen are also available.