Shanna Hagan-Burke, Ph.D., became Dean of the Baylor School of Education on July 1, 2020. She came to Baylor SOE from a position as professor of special education and head of the Department of Educational Psychology at Texas A&M University’s College of Education and Human Development.

Dr. Hagan-Burke served on the faculties at the University of Georgia and University of Oregon before joining the Texas A&M faculty in 2005 as Associate Professor of Special Education. In 2016, she was named Professor, Department Head and Douglas J Palmer Endowed Chair. A&M’s Department of Educational Psychology, which focuses on human development and well-being in educational and community contexts, averaged nearly $9 million annually over Dr. Hagan-Burke’s last three years in sponsored research and is home to multiple innovative research labs and clinics.

Her research interests include functional analyses of challenging behavior, positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS), and early literacy. She has been awarded more than $5.6 million dollars in competitive external grants, serving as the lead principal investigator or co-PI on 11 external grant awards. Her work investigating relations between academic performance and problem behaviors has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (2013, 2014) for its contributions to the fields of early reading intervention and early childhood education. She directed a doctoral training grant focused on the preparation of scholars with dual expertise in academic and behavioral supports (Project ABS).

Hagan-Burke has 17 years of experience working with state-level behavioral support initiatives (Alabama, Georgia and Hawaii Departments of Education) and their systemic efforts to meet the needs of students with challenging behaviors. She was a member of the Texas Education Agency’s Response to Intervention (RTI) Guidance Committee and served as the lead author developing their RTI framework for social behaviors.

In 2015, Hagan-Burke was awarded an Eppright Professorship for undergraduate teaching excellence at Texas A&M. She also was selected as a fellow of the SEC Academic Leadership Development Program and has received additional university recognition for her teaching and service.

Dr. Hagan-Burke has published more than 60 refereed articles, along with several book chapters, encyclopedia entries, monographs, and technical research reports for state and federal agencies. She is a frequent presenter at national and international scholarly conferences.

She earned her B.A. in special education and teaching and her master’s in clinical teaching from the University of West Florida, and her Ph.D. in special education from the University of Oregon.