Two of the University of Denver’s graduate schools will be under new leadership beginning this summer. Michelle Knight-Manuel has been appointed dean of the Morgridge College of Education (MCE) effective July 1. Torrey Wilson has been appointed dean of the Graduate School of Professional Psychology (GSPP) beginning Aug. 22.
Knight-Manuel previously was an education professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. She also served as executive editor of Teachers College Record, the nation’s oldest leading education journal. Her areas of research and teaching expertise include curriculum and teacher education, equity and urban schooling.
Knight-Manuel earned her PhD in curriculum and teaching from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has co-authored two books, “Classroom Cultures: Equitable Schooling for Racially Diverse Youth” and “College Ready: Preparing Black and Latino Youth for Higher Education through a Culturally Relevant Lens.”
“I am honored and thrilled to be joining the University of Denver as the dean of the Morgridge College of Education,” Knight-Manuel says. “It’s a dream come true to be able to lead and partner with the amazing faculty, staff, students, alumni and community stakeholders at DU and MCE who are engaged in positive educational and social change to better serve the public good.”
Wilson comes to DU from the University of Indianapolis where he serves as dean of the College of Applied Behavioral Sciences. He previously was a professor of clinical psychology at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology and chair of the doctoral clinical psychology program at Adler University in Chicago.
Wilson earned his PhD in counseling psychology from Loyola University Chicago. His areas of research and teaching expertise include the experiences of under-represented minority populations in group therapy, sexism and sexual harassment in doctoral training programs and the experiences of Black couples in counseling. Wilson’s earlier work focused on social support and self-efficacy for African American students attending historically Black universities.
“I am excited to build on the legacy of GSPP and its impact within the behavioral health community,” Wilson says. “Additionally, the opportunity to lead the movement into allied health and further the University’s contribution to interdisciplinary training is beyond my professional dreams.”
