Taking the reins of an educational institution that traces its roots back to the Los Angeles Normal School and the founding of UCLA, Christina “Tina” Christie began her official duties as interim Wasserman Dean of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies August 1st.
As Interim Dean, Christie joins an esteemed list of educators from Moore to Marcelo Suárez-Orozco who have helped to build what is now known as the School of Education and Information Studies into one of the top ranked programs in the country.
“This is an awesome responsibility and a wonderful opportunity,” Christie said. “I am thrilled to be able to work with our incredibly talented faculty, staff and students to meet the challenges that have been made so clear by events this past year.”
Christie previously served as professor and chair of the education department at the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies.
A scholar of program and policy evaluation, Christie joined the faculty of UCLA in 2010. Her research focuses on understanding evaluation as a method for facilitating social change. She has served as a lead investigator on more than 30 grants and contracts totaling approximately $33 million to study education, child maltreatment and health behavior programs.
“The pandemic and national protests for racial justice have lain bare the challenges that confront our communities and the nation,” Christie said. “We have the greatest talent in our school and university. I look forward to working together to move from protest to progress, as we ignite, inform and shape practice and policies that further learning and foster justice.”
During Christie’s tenure as chair, the UCLA Department of Education has been ranked No. 1 among public universities by U.S. News and World Report. Under her leadership, the Department has established a bachelor’s of arts program in education and social transformation. She has also worked to develop a new master’s degree program in education, transformative coaching and leadership; and hosted professional development programs for educators around the globe. Christie’s efforts to build a strong department community earned her the UCLA Staff Assembly’s 2018 Faculty/Staff Partnership Award.
Christie has been recognized with distinguished career awards by two leading associations, as the recipient of the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) 2018 Research on Evaluation Special Interest Group Distinguished Scholar Award and the American Evaluation Association’s 2019 Research on Evaluation Distinguished Scholar Award.
Christie earned her Ph.D. from UCLA; her master of arts and master of education from Teachers College, Columbia University; and her bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York.