Leigh Patel, professor in the School of Education, is one of 17 new members elected to the National Academy of Education (NAEd), an honorific society of scholars and educators who make outstanding contributions to the education field.
“This is a significant honor that means a great deal to me,” Patel said. “There are a number of Black, Indigenous, migrant, and decolonial women in the academy doing quality research that impacts the possible futures of Black and Brown children. Their work has deeply influenced me, and it’s an honor to be in the same group.”
As a member of NAEd, Patel will serve on expert study panels that address pressing issues in education and be involved as a mentor for the organization’s professional development fellowship programs.
Patel, who joined Pitt Education in 2018, is a transdisciplinary scholar who studies the narratives that shape how people are treated in society. She is an internationally known scholar of education, ethnic studies, critical higher education studies, and literacy.
One of her current projects — in collaboration with PittEd Justice Collective facilitator Anneliese Martinez and predoctoral fellow Ogechi Irondi — is to create an oral history of parent and caregiver experiences when schools shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic.