Entering with a wealth of knowledge and experience, Dr. Mark L'Esperance joined the JMU College of Education as professor and dean in July 2019.
He believes his role as dean is to support faculty in creating an environment where innovation, along with pedagogical best practice, is celebrated and rewarded. This requires supporting faculty, staff, centers and programs in seeking external funding along with developing networks of short-term and long-term partnerships. The College of Education has generated 33 million dollars in external funding grants/contracts and research expenses over the last three years.
The College currently has more than 100 full-time faculty and staff, 187 part-time faculty, 1,300 students in teacher licensure programs, and over 30 initial licensure programs. In addition to teacher preparation, the College also houses 200 cadets in a nationally recognized Army Reserve Officer Training Corps, approximately 250 students in the Human Resource Development minor, a minor in Educational Media, and graduate programs spanning 12 areas including Human Resource Development, Educational Leadership, Educational Technology, Spanish Language and Culture, and TESOL. Additionally, the College of Education has a very focused Global Engagement initiative in multiple sites around the world.
L'Esperance was previously professor and chair of the Department of Elementary Education and Middle Grades Education at East Carolina University, where he was also the lead faculty administrator for the East Carolina University Community School. L'Esperance joined the faculty at ECU in 1998 and has since presented and published extensively at the state, national and international levels. L'Esperance has worked with public-school systems in coaching hundreds of administrators related to strategic planning and instructional leadership.
L'Esperance's graduate studies included doctoral work at Indiana University and earning a Ph.D. in 1998 from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
As a low-wealth, first generation college graduate, L'Esperance feels it is important to give back. He co-founded a faith-based non-profit youth and family development organization serving children and families of Greenville and Pitt County, North Carolina. He is a native of Lynn, Massachusetts and a veteran of the Army National Guard and United States Coast Guard. He enjoys spending time with his wife of 38 years, Pam, along with their three adult children and their families. In his free time, he enjoys reading, weightlifting and watching college sports.
