Longtime Simmons professor Michael Harris will lead the Simmons School of Education and Human Development into its next chapter following the departure of Dean Stephanie Knight.
Harris will officially take his place in the Simmons Dean’s Office June1, 2025 as Knight concludes her deanship on May 31. Harris was named dean ad interim on May 14 by outgoing SMU Provost Elizabeth Loboa. “I’m honored by the opportunity to serve as the interim dean of the Simmons School,” Harris said. “I look forward to supporting our outstanding faculty, staff, and students at this critical moment, as we work together to expand the reach and impact of SMU Simmons.”
Harris joined Simmons in 2012 as a professor of higher education in the Department of Education Policy and Leadership where he also served as Chair from 2020-2024. His primary research interests consider the culture, strategy, and behavior of higher education institutions. He has taught graduate courses in organization and governance, academic leadership, organizational theory, and the history of American higher education. Currently, he is working on a book on higher education leadership under contract with Harvard Education Press.
Harris was a 2024-2025 fellow of the American Council on Education where he studied leadership and strategy at the University of Utah. At SMU, he has held other leadership roles including Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence. He is also a past president of the SMU Faculty Senate and served as Faculty Trustee during the 2023-2024 academic year.
His work has been published in leading higher education journals such as The Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, Higher Education, Innovative Higher Education, and Higher Education Policy. He has published four books, Teaching for Learning: 101 Intentionally-Designed Educational Activities to Put Students on the Path to Success 2nd Edition (Routledge, 2021) with co-authors Claire H. Major and Todd Zakrajsek, The Qualitative Dissertation in Education: A Guide for Integrating Research and Practice (Routledge, 2019) with coauthor Karri Holley, How to Get Tenure: Strategies for Successfully Navigating the Process (Routledge, 2019), and Understanding Institutional Diversity in American Higher Education (Jossey-Bass, 2013).
Harris is frequently called on by media for his expertise in following and understanding higher education, and has been quoted by The Associated Press, The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, The Houston Chronicle, The Dallas Morning News, Texas Tribune, Texas Capital Tonight, Propublica, Marketwatch, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and InsideHigherEd, among others.
He holds a B.A. from the University of North Carolina in American History, a M.Ed. and Ed.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in higher education administration. In 2004, he received the AERA Division J Dissertation of the Year award.
Harris will oversee the five departments, various centers, institutes, and programs that make up the Simmons School of Education and Human Development until a permanent dean is hired. Simmons is ranked in the top 50 graduate schools nationwide according to the U.S. News and World Report rankings and is in the top 11 private schools in the nation and the top 3 public and private education graduate schools in Texas.