Trinity Names Interim Education Chair

Norvella Carter, Ph.D., has been appointed as the interim chair for the Department of Education at Trinity University. Previously, Carter was a professor of education and endowed chair in Urban Education, emeritus, in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Culture at Texas A&M University. Carter will provide leadership, as well as budgetary, program, and administrative oversight to the Department of Education.

“Throughout her long career as a distinguished researcher and urban school reformer, Dr. Carter has proven herself to be a national presence in the education community,” says Deneese Jones, vice president for Academic Affairs. “I look forward to working with her as she brings leadership to support the excellent work of Trinity's education department.”

Carter is charged with the task of coordinating the search for the permanent chair of the Department of Education and continuing to uphold the high standards of the department. She will also oversee the professional development of the faculty and will continue to strengthen the department’s sense of community.

“I am tremendously excited and bursting with enthusiasm about my new position at Trinity University! I continue to be impressed by the University’s incredible reputation for excellence in the academic world and its powerful impact on humanity,” Carter says. “I eagerly look forward to working with and on behalf of Trinity students, faculty, educators, the community, and all stakeholders in this dynamic process called education.”

Carter has worked in education her entire career and considers one of her highlights, the expert testimony she provided during a congressional hearing about education on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. She has experience in teaching and administration from grade schools to universities, and she has worked with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. In recognition for her accomplishments as an educator, Carter has won the Urban Education Award and the national W.E.B. Du Bois Award, among others.

Carter earned her doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction at Loyola University and both her master’s degree in educational leadership administration and supervision and her bachelor’s degree in special education from Wayne State University.

As interim, Carter replaces former department chair Shari Albright ’83, ’86, who has taken a position as president of the Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation, an Austin-based enterprise that supports initiatives to identify, pilot, and scale systemic improvements in public education.