Dean
klaprade@gcu.edu
602.639.6360
Dr. LaPrade is an alumnus of GCU. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in English Writing and Sociology in 1990 and her Master of Education degree in 2000. She holds a Teaching Certificate and a Principal Certificate from Arizona and earned her Ph.D in Educational Leadership from Capella University; her doctoral dissertation examined the effects of a de-tracking initiative to help decrease the achievement gap for marginalized students in an Honors and Advanced Placement English program.
Dr. LaPrade has been an educator in and out of the classroom for almost 20 years. Her area of concentration included best teaching and assessment practices and instructional leadership.
In addition, Dr. LaPrade serves as adjunct professor for the College of Doctoral Studies. Her experience includes course development and assessment design. She teaches a variety of leadership courses, while also serving on several doctoral committees.
Dr. LaPrade is married and has four grown children and two dogs. In her spare time she loves to sail, read, cook, and exercise. She also enjoys traveling; her favorite trips involve the ocean.
Assistant Dean
marjaneh.gilpatrick@gcu.edu
602.639.6981
Dr. Marjaneh Gilpatrick is assistant dean and chair of the TESOL (Teaching English to speakers of Other Languages) program in the College of Education. She is also the counselor for GCU's Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society. She received her bachelor's degree in Elementary Education at Louisiana State University, her master's degree in Multicultural Education at San Diego State University and her doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from Argosy University in Phoenix.
In her role in the College of Education, Dr. Gilpatrick teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in English as a Second Language (ESL), Literacy, and Social Studies Methods. Her K-12 teaching experiences include working with elementary school students who were English language learners at Phoenix Elementary School District, teaching Education and ESL courses at the Maricopa County Community College District, and teaching Reading and Language Arts to English language learners at the junior high level at Mesa Public Schools.
Prior to joining Grand Canyon University, she was the instructional specialist, chair for the Reading Department, and coordinator for the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program at Mesa Junior High School.
Assistant Dean
carlyn.ludlow@gcu.edu
602.639.7247
Dr. Ludlow's research interests include educational policy, curriculum, assessment and evaluation, and teacher quality, education, and certification. She has been recognized by districts, state agencies, and private corporations for her research, publications, and presentations in these areas, including twice being honored as a university &lquot;faculty member of the year&rquot;.
Her teaching interests include assessment and evaluation, research design and methodology, educational technology, instructional design, and educational policy. She is a member of AASA (American Association of School Administrators) and ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development).
Director of Accreditation
jweiss@gcu.edu
602.639.6288
Joanne Weiss comes to the College of Education from a 3 year stint in GCU's Curriculum Development and Design department where she was first a Curriculum Developer and then a Manager. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, and has 10 years of Christian school junior high experience teaching math, language arts, and Bible. She is a certified elementary teacher in the states of Arizona and New Jersey, as well as with the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). Joanne facilitates online courses for the College of Education and the College of Liberal Arts, and is a mentor for first-time instructors. Additionally, she is working on a Doctor of Education in Higher Education Leadership degree.
Joanne is a transplant to Arizona from New Jersey, having escaped ice storms and the annual annoyance of digging out her car from under several feet of snow. She likes to hike in Prescott and Sedona, work out at the gym, serve in her local church, voraciously read mystery novels, and experiment on her family's stomachs with ethnic food. She has been married to Fred, a Hebrew Christian, for 28 years. They have a 21-year old adopted son, Joel, who, at 10 days old, was delivered to them tucked under blankets in a laundry basket, inside a train station in Nagoya, Japan, in the pouring rain. An impish pug named Sadie rounds out a rather quirky family.
Director of Academic Excellence
dsmith1@gcu.edu
602.639.7106
Dave Smith is Director of Academic Excellence in the College of Education. A relatively new position at GCU, and very new to the College of Education, Dave is responsible for focusing on and monitoring quality improvement projects within the college.
Dave spent nearly twenty years in various management positions with a major telecommunications provide in the Midwest, worked as a consultant for several years before entering proprietary education in 2002. He has taught as an adjunct faculty member, and served as dean for several small proprietary schools prior to joining Grand Canyon University.
Dave has a B.A. in Management, and an M.B.A. in Quantitative Analysis and Finance, all from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He and wife Jackie moved to Phoenix in June of 2008.
