Editor’s note — On April 16, 2024, Nick Pace was named interim dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences, following Sherri Jones’s announcement that she would not be returning to the college as dean.
Nick Pace has been named acting dean of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s College of Education and Human Sciences.
The announcement was made Oct. 9 by Katherine Ankerson, executive vice chancellor, following the appointment of Sherri Jones as interim vice chancellor of research and economic development.
“Nick is an experienced and well-respected department executive officer within the College of Education and Human Sciences, and I am grateful for his willingness to assume this leadership role,” Ankerson said. “I am confident Nick will ably step into the role and I look forward to working with him.”
Pace has served the university as professor and chair of the Department of Educational Administration since 2017. Prior to that he was professor and head of the Department of Educational Leadership and Postsecondary Education at the University of Northern Iowa.
His passion and scholarly focus has been on preparing and sustaining school principals, fueled by his time as a principal himself, as well as former social worker, teacher, and coach. He is the author of five books on the principalship, including “Reality Calling” and “Seeking Balance,” which are fictional accounts of the events in a principal’s first year, and co-author of “The Principal’s Hot Seat,” which features video footage from an intense school leadership role play he developed. Pace’s work has been published in Educational Leadership Review, American School Board Journal, and the Journal of Advanced Academics.
“I am honored to serve as acting dean during this important transition in leadership and will work to ensure continued momentum on our college’s strategic plan along with the university’s most pressing priorities,” Pace said.
Pace has maintained professional affiliations with state-level school administrator associations, the National Rural Education Association, Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate, and University Council for Educational Administration.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in sociology and Doctor of Education from the University of Northern Iowa and Master of Science in Education from Drake University. He was inducted to the Iowa Academy of Education in 2016 and received the UNI College of Education Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Diversity Matters Award, both in 2012. Outreach and dissemination of his research into the school experiences of gay and lesbian high school students led to his receipt of the Iowa Friend of Civil Rights Award in 2010.
