Schwab Invested as Neag Professor

Richard Schwab, former dean of the Neag School, was invested as Neag Professor during a ceremony June 7.

Richard L. Schwab, center, with Ray '56 (CLAS) and Carole Neag after a ceremony held at the Charles B. Gentry Building to invest Schwab as Neag Professor on June 7. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Richard L. Schwab, center, with Ray '56 (CLAS) and Carole Neag after a ceremony held at the Charles B. Gentry Building to invest Schwab as Neag Professor on June 7. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

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Richard L. Schwab ’78 MA, ’80 Ph.D., former dean of the Neag School, was invested as Neag Professor June 7. Longtime UConn donors Ray ’56 (CLAS) and Carole Neag, who provided support for the professorship, were on hand for the investiture ceremony.

A professor of educational leadership, Schwab is director of the Institute of Urban School Improvement at the Neag School of Education.

During his tenure as dean, the School of Education received the largest gift ever given to a school of education nationally from Ray Neag and became the second named school at UConn.

When Schwab arrived as dean in 1997, the school was unranked in U.S. News & World Report. When he returned to the faculty in 2009, it was ranked 21st overall, 13th in elementary education, 17th in secondary education, 19th in curriculum and instruction, 20th in special education, and the kinesiology department was ranked highest in the country.

Schwab is the past President of the Council of Academic Deans at Research Education Institutions (CADREI), a national organization for research-oriented private and land grant schools/colleges of education.

He has published extensively on issues relating to teacher education, occupational stress and health in educational organizations, and educational technology.

Before coming to UConn, he served as dean of the School of Education at Drake University, head of the educational leadership department at Drake, and professor and director of field experiences at the University of New Hampshire.