Teeley Appointed Dean of Academics

The English chair and girls’ rowing coach has been at Lawrenceville since 2012.

awrenceville appointed Bernadette Teeley as its next dean of academics in April. Her appointment is effective July 1. Teeley, who finished the 2022-23 academic year as the chair of the English Department, will now oversee all aspects of academic life, balancing respect for tried-and-true practices while nurturing a climate of pedagogic and curricular innovation that ensures an exceptionally engaging, highly challenging, developmentally appropriate learning environment for Lawrenceville students.

“Bernadette is a strategic thinker who will use data to define issues and solutions that will reinforce our Harkness teaching culture, experiential learning, cultural competency, cutting-edge teaching technologies, and ethical decision making,” said Emilie Kosoff H’88 ’96 ’00 ’18 ’20 S’88 P’19, assistant head of school and dean of faculty.

In her role as dean, Teeley will continue to enhance the Lawrenceville experience for students and faculty. She will collaborate closely with Kosoff to ensure that a Lawrenceville education meets the very highest standard, by any measure, and that the pedagogy in Lawrenceville classrooms and the content of the course offerings remain forward-thinking and directly relevant to the world that students at the School navigate.

Through dance, song, and storytelling, members of the Redhawk Native American Arts Council celebrated the culture of Indigenous People, particularly those native to the New Jersey/New York area, with students at Kirby Arts Center in December.

Artist and Redhawk cultural director Clifton Matias led the program, explaining the meaning behind each performance. Lawrentians were invited to the stage to join in an Iroquois dance, celebrating the spring season.

Matias spoke movingly about the struggle of Indigenous People to maintain and foster an awareness of Native cultures from an historical standpoint, with a focus on contemporary practices. Matias, who protested at sacred spaces at Standing Rock in the Dakotas and Mauna Kea, Hawaii, spoke to interested students at lunch about the fight to end the use of Native Americans as sports mascots and the increased interest in land acknowledgements. n

“As a student-centered educator who understands the daily challenges of working with teens at this moment in our society, I’m inspired to take this step in service to the teaching faculty and students,” said Teeley, who arrived at Lawrenceville in 2012. “I look forward to working with and supporting my colleagues to ensure that each of our students finds a pathway of success through Lawrenceville.”

In addition to a litany of leadership positions she has held at Lawrenceville, Teeley was also named a Salzburg Global Fellow in 2022 for her ongoing research and international policy recommendations in the areas of transforming education systems to meet global challenges, socio-emotional learning, literacy, service learning, youth forums, global project networks, faculty well-being, and disparities in educational attainment in the U.S. education system. n

BERNADETTE TEELEY P’24

n Oscar H. McPherson ’01 Distinguished Teaching Chair, 2018-23

PROFESSIONAL n Rawleigh Warner ’09 Junior Faculty Chair, 2015-18 n Executive director, Lawrenceville Summer Scholars, 2016-20 n Chair, English Department, 2021-23 n Head of Carter House, 2014-23 n Head coach, girls’ rowing, 2012-present

EDUCATIONAL n M.A., higher and post-secondary education policy, University of Michigan n B.A., English with a secondary education teaching certification, University of Dayton