Dear AERA Members, Colleagues in the Field, and Leaders in Research and Education:
We are writing this joint letter to announce that Felice has decided to step down as Executive Director (ED) effective June 15, 2025. As she entered her fifth consecutive term, she signaled that she wished to move to an Emerita status next June and would not seek a further term of office. We both want to communicate this news now to provide sufficient lead time to conduct a search and ensure a smooth transition.
As President, let me add that it is with considerable respect and affection that I join with Felice in making this announcement. The breadth and range of her significant accomplishments on behalf of AERA, the education research community, and science and scholarship worldwide are highly regarded and valued. The many things for which Felice is widely known and respected include expanding the horizons of our field, the issues we address, and who is encouraged to join with us in this important enterprise. Felice has led AERA brilliantly, ethically, and courageously, and has led the organization through unprecedented challenging times, including the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 Annual Meeting. While my Presidential year is also the last for Felice, we are excited about the coming year and working with you on our important agenda—whether you are our members, field leaders, or other valued partners.
As Executive Director (ED), I too want to add a personal and heartfelt note. I wish to say publicly what I conveyed privately to President Janelle Scott and to immediate AERA Past President Tyrone Howard. Simply put, I have the “best job in town”—across hemispheres and continents. As I look ahead to the next phases of my career and engagement in our field, the AERA ED job will always be at the top of professional roles in my life.
As ED, I am honored to lead AERA and to have served this remarkable association and field since May 2002. AERA put its trust in me as it sought for the Association to be a dynamic organization that could lead, change, and help transform the field as a forward looking and inclusive arena of science and scholarship that also matters in public and policy spheres. With an exceptional staff of committed and likeminded colleagues, we have been anchored on that mission and purpose. With extraordinary AERA Presidents and Councils, we have worked as one body on shared aspirations and ambitions. And, with vibrant division and SIG leaders, a diverse and active membership, including accomplished graduate student cohorts, I have learned so much, developed long lasting friendships, and been enabled to get so much done. In the world of associations and organizations that can matter, I am thankful and grateful for the opportunity, support, and latitude to lead and, I hope, to innovate.
As I see it as Executive Director, transitions are always a time of opportunity. Those of us in executive leadership roles are only successful to the extent that their successors can be even more successful. In my final year of service as AERA Executive Director, on my sabbatical year, and well thereafter, I will remain equally committed to what AERA is and can be and become in the decades ahead.
Felice’s looking forward is key also to my role as AERA President, and I am grateful to have her partnership in this process. In collaboration with Tyrone Howard, we have worked through the timing of a search for the next AERA Executive Director with a term to commence in June 2025. In early summer a search will officially launch. I am most pleased to also announce today that AERA Past Presidents Na’ilah Suad Nasir (2021-2022) and Deborah Loewenberg Ball (2017-2018) have agreed to co-chair the search.
With warm wishes,
Janelle and Felice
Janelle T. Scott, AERA President, 2024-2025
Felice J. Levine, AERA Executive Director, 2002-2025
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About AERA
The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning. Founded in 1916, AERA advances knowledge about education, encourages scholarly inquiry related to education, and promotes the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. Find AERA on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Threads
