Pedro Noguera

Dean, USC Rossier School of Education

Pedro Noguera was appointed dean of the USC Rossier School of Education in July 2020 and is the holder of the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean’s Chair in Education.

A sociologist, Noguera’s research focuses on the ways in which schools are influenced by social and economic conditions, as well as by demographic trends in local, regional and global contexts. He is the author, co-author and editor of 13 books. His most recent books are The Crisis of Connection: Roots, Consequences and Solutions with Niobe Way, Carol Gilligan and Alisha Ali (New York University Press, 2018) and Race, Equity and Education: Sixty Years From Brown with Jill Pierce and Roey Ahram (Springer, 2015).

He has published over 250 research articles in academic journals, book chapters in edited volumes, research reports and editorials in major newspapers. He serves on the boards of numerous national and local organizations, including the Economic Policy Institute, the National Equity Project and The Nation. Noguera appears as a regular commentator on educational issues on several national media outlets, and his editorials on educational issues have appeared in The New York TimesThe Washington PostThe Wall Street JournalThe Dallas Morning News and Los Angeles Times

Prior to being appointed dean of the USC Rossier School of Education, Noguera served as a Distinguished Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Before joining the faculty at UCLA he served as a tenured professor and holder of endowed chairs at New York University (2004–2015), Harvard University (2000–2003) and the University of California, Berkeley (1990–2000). 

Noguera was recently appointed to serve as a special advisor to the governor of New Mexico on education policy. He also advises the state departments of education in Washington, Oregon and Nevada. From 2009–2012 he served as a trustee for the State University of New York as an appointee of the governor. In 2014 he was elected to the National Academy of Education and Phi Delta Kappa honor society, and in 2020 Noguera was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Noguera has received seven honorary doctorates from American universities, and he recently received awards from the Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, from the National Association of Secondary School Principals and from the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at NYU for his research and advocacy efforts aimed at fighting poverty.

Noguera holds bachelor’s degrees in sociology and American history, a master’s degree from Brown University and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.