College Timeline

2019 Charles R. Martinez, Jr. becomes the 12th dean of the college.

2017 The National Deaf Center for Postsecondary Outcomes launched by the College of Education and the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk.

2017 Justiz steps down as dean after 28 years of service. Sherry Field named interim dean.

2016 The college takes the lead on Governor Greg Abbott’s Summer Literacy Academies.

2015 Justiz celebrates his 25^th year leading the college.

2015 UTeach Fine Arts is established in collaboration with UT’s College of Fine Arts.

2013 For the sixth year in a row, the college is ranked number one among the nation’s graduate education schools in research funding by U.S. News & World Report.

2010-16 The college is consistently ranked among the top five public graduate schools of education in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

2010 The college’s Meadows Center for Preventing Education Risk is awarded a $20 million grant, at the time the largest received by the college.

2002 The college launches groundbreaking Laptop Initiative.

2000 The college leads Governor George W. Bush’s Texas Reading Initiative.

1997 UTeach program is established in collaboration with UT’s College of Natural Sciences.

1993 The college leads the Texas Math and Science State Systemic Change Initiative on behalf of Governor Ann Richards.

1991 Education Building is renamed for George I. Sánchez.

1990 Manuel J. Justiz is appointed dean. He is the first Hispanic dean at UT.

1987 Waneen Spirduso is appointed interim dean.

1987 Texas Senate Bill 994 is passed, stipulating that anyone applying for a teaching certificate in Texas must possess a bachelor’s degree in an academic or interdisciplinary major other than education.

1975 New state-of-the-art Education Building opens.

1970 Lorrin Kennamer is appointed dean.

1965 Department of Special Education is established from what had been a sub-area in the Department of Educational Psychology. The Science Education Center, known today as The STEM Center, is established under the direction of Addison Lee. Federal funding related to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society legislation helps spur explosive growth of the College.

1964 Wayne H. Holtzman is appointed dean.

1962 Clyde Colvert is appointed dean.

1949 The Gilmer-Aikin Act is passed by the Texas Legislature. The act requires that the allocation of funds for public schools be based upon population and attendance.

1947 Laurence D. Haskew is appointed dean.

1946 Pittenger retires and Clarence T. Gray is named acting dean.

1945 The School of Education becomes the College of Education. Until this time, it had been a school or department in the College of Arts and Sciences.

1940 First professorship in Latin American Education is established. The inaugural holder is George I. Sánchez, ME ’31.

1936 Bachelor of science in elementary education is approved.

1934 Doctor of education degree is authorized.

1933 Launch of University High School, a laboratory school on campus. Today the building is the home of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work.

1926 Pittenger becomes permanent dean when Sutton retires.

1925 Department of Physical Education (known today as Kinesiology and Health Education) is added. Master of science degree in physical education and master of education degrees are added.

1923 The college offers its first bachelor of science in education. Sutton serves as acting president of UT and B. F. Pittenger is appointed acting dean.

1921 Annie Webb Blanton, who earned degrees from the College in 1899 and 1923, proposes and helps pass a law that raises standards for certification of public school teachers in Texas.

1920 Department of Education is changed to the School of Education.

1918 Department of Education moves into new Education and Administration Building, which would be renamed Sutton Hall in 1930.

1909 The Department of Education is divided into three schools: Educational Administration (known today as Educational Leadership and Policy), Art of Teaching (known today as Curriculum and Instruction), and Philosophy of Education (known today as Educational Psychology).

1906 School of the Science and Art of Education is renamed Department of Education.

1900 The School of Pedagogy is renamed the School of the Science and Art of Education.

1897 William S. Sutton named professor of pedagogy. He would become the first chair of the School of Pedagogy and would later be named the first dean. He served from 1909 to 1926.

1891-1892 The School of Pedagogy is established at The University of Texas. “The object of this school is to prepare students for the profession of teaching. The School of Pedagogy in The University aims to prepare teachers for positions in our high schools, academies, city schools, and colleges. The School of Pedagogy seeks to carry the highest college culture into the teaching profession.” – University of Texas Circular Number 14. September 13, 1891. The School is led by Joseph Baldwin.