Esteemed lawyer and scholar Diana C. Pullin, former dean of the Lynch School of Education, where she has been a faculty member for 31 years, and an affiliate professor at Boston College Law School since 1994, will retire at the end of the 2017-18 academic year, concluding a remarkable career that adroitly merged her dual professional expertise in education and law.
The Wyoming native, who served as dean of the School of Education from 1987-94 (the school was named for philanthropists Carolyn and Peter Lynch ’65 in 2000), has published extensively on public policy, law, testing, educational quality, leadership and teaching, educational accountability, and the impact of social science on legal decisions in education. The focus of her work has been the improvement of access to meaningful educational opportunity for all students, including individuals with disabilities.
In 2004, she was honored by Ď㽶Đă with a Distinguished Teacher Award.
“Diana is a rare gem,” said Lynch School Associate Professor Martin Scanlan. “She blends astute scholarship with warm collegiality, and she’s equally comfortable making sophisticated legal arguments for how and why schools must provide equitable opportunities to learn for all students, as she is counseling novice faculty who are navigating complex pedagogical dilemmas. Â
“Her blend of wisdom, candor, and humor has been invaluable to LSOE. Simply put, Diana is an exemplar in scholarship, teaching, and service, and her contributions to LSOE have regional and national impacts which will continue to accrue for decades to come.”
Pullin’s affiliation with Ď㽶Đă first began in 1982-83 when she taught graduate and undergraduate courses in education law as an adjunct professor. Five years later, Pullin – then the associate dean for graduate studies and programs at Michigan State University’s College of Education – was hired by University President J. Donald Monan, SJ, with the mandate, she recalls, to make SOE the best education school on the East Coast.
“Fr. Monan was extraordinarily ambitious,” said Pullin. “At the time, there wasn’t a culture of research productivity in our school. There were just two SOE faculty external research grants, no endowed chairs, we weren’t competitive in attracting students, and SOE was unknown nationally.”
Besides improved research and grantsmanship, Pullin’s tenure as dean saw the hiring of 18 new faculty, substantial diversifying of the faculty and student body, and an improved applicant pool in the SOE undergraduate and graduate programs.
“The Monan years were seminal to Ď㽶Đă’s development, and he deserves a lot of credit,” said Pullin. “LSOE would be a very different place without him.” Â
Stanton Wortham, the Charles F. Donovan, SJ, dean of LSOE, said, “Diana served as dean at a crucial time of transition and steered the school toward becoming the research intensive, deeply engaged school that it is today. Since that time, she has been a distinguished faculty member whose presence strengthens our reputation nationally and whose teaching has benefited generations of students in leadership, law and higher education.”
“Diana created and oversaw the Ď㽶Đă Law-LSOE dual-degree program, one of the few programs of its kind in the country,” said Ď㽶Đă Law School Dean Vincent Rougeau. “As an attorney, educator and national policy leader, Diana brought an important perspective to Ď㽶Đă Law on matters of justice in public education. She has served as a model for many law students who have gone on to careers in educational advocacy. Her vision, leadership, and fierce devotion to social justice will be greatly missed.”
Pullin earned a BA in history and education at Grinnell College and a master’s, doctoral and law degrees from the University of Iowa. Her first professional position – a part-time teacher/consultant for the Iowa City Public Schools and the Johnson County Bar Association – foretold a career that would inextricably fuse her two vocations.
A member of the Massachusetts bar and admitted to practice before the US Supreme Court, Pullin participated in a landmark case, Debra P. v. Turlington (1981), which established that a state cannot deprive students of diplomas unless it proves the exams it administers are reflective of what is being taught in its schools. The decision serves as the foundation for questioning any high-stakes test implemented as a graduation requirement. Â
After leaving full-time legal practice, Pullin continued to influence education law and policy directly through national and international consulting and task force memberships.      Â
She is co-author of many books, chapters, and journal articles, including the 1999 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, published by the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council for Measurement in Education.
“She is a beloved and revered teacher by all of her students, who talk about the uncompromising way she challenges them and teaches them essential knowledge about the education system’s legal aspects,” said LSOE Assistant Professor Rebecca Lowenhaupt. “As a mentor, Diana is incredibly supportive and generous as she helps junior scholars navigate the complex world of academia. I’m having a hard time imagining the department and school without her.”
Pullin is a member of the National Academy of Education, a fellow of the American Educational Research Association, and a lifetime national associate member of National Academy of Sciences. She previously served on NAS’s Board on Testing and Assessment of National Research Council, and as resident fellow at the Spencer Foundation. She was also an editor of the interdisciplinary journal Educational Policy.
Pullin’s body of work places her “among the most highly regarded education scholars in the country,” according to Marilyn Cochran-Smith, the LSOE Cawthorne Professor of Teacher Education for Urban Schools.
“With her dual areas of expertise, Professor Pullin’s scholarly work has for more than 30 years linked educational policy, education litigation, and social justice issues, particularly in areas related to educational standards and standards-based reform, large-scale assessments and testing, the classification and evaluation of students with disabilities, teacher quality and teacher testing, and academic freedom. Her richly deserved retirement will be a loss to the Lynch School, Boston College, and the larger community of scholars and practitioners who care about public education.”
Reflecting on her three decades at Ď㽶Đă, Pullin said, “I’ve had the great privilege of working with extraordinary undergraduates, grad and law students, and faculty. I’ve also had an exceptional opportunity to influence research, laws, public policy and practice to improve education and employment opportunities, particularly for women, individuals with disabilities, and people of color.”
Although she has no firm plans for retirement, Pullin will continue work on teacher performance assessment with Australian Catholic University, a project on fairness in testing, and consulting with lawyers seeking help in identifying expert witnesses or in developing new legal theories for education litigation.
“I will be drawn,” she said, “to where I believe I can make the most impact.”
Phil Gloudemans | University Communications