Dr. Jerlando F. L. Jackson meets with Kristine L. Bowman (left), Michigan State University’s associate dean for academic and student affairs, and other leaders from the university’s college of education.Photo by Trevor Hawks | Michigan State University College of Education
Jackson’s journey to Michigan State began — in earnest — some two decades earlier, when the young Jackson embarked on an ambitious research agenda of studying education deans as a doctoral student at Iowa State University.
So impressive was Jackson, that he would receive a tenure-track job offer as an assistant professor that included a role as an assistant dean with a joint appointment in the school of public policy at an elite private institution in the Northeast, two years before he would even commence work on his dissertation.
“I wanted to be a tenure track assistant professor and assistant dean because I saw examples where that combination led to a dean’s position within a 10-year period,” says Jackson, who was under the tutelage of Dr. Walter H. Gmelch, who, at the time, served as dean of Iowa State’s College of Education and had emerged as a national expert on college deans. “I was studying decanal work and that was what I wanted to do.”
But after politely turning down the job offer so that he could finish his doctoral studies, it suddenly became clear to everyone at Iowa State that, once he earned his Ph.D., Jackson would be able to secure a job of his choosing. Indeed, the possibilities were seemingly going to be endless for him, even if the Fort Benning, Ga., native didn’t fully understand it at the time.
Falling in love with the work of the professoriate
While becoming a dean of a college of education was an early aspiration, that career trajectory took a detour once Jackson joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison some 22 years ago.
