EAST LANSING, Mich. — Robert Floden has been elected a member of the prestigious National Academy of Education.
Floden is a professor of teacher education and associate dean for research at Michigan State University's College of Education.
Election to membership in the academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. educator. The election recognizes his or her distinguished and continuing achievements in original research and teaching.
"It's a great honor to be elected by the academy to join its organization," said Floden, who joined the MSU faculty in 1977. "I look forward to working with other National Academy of Education members on the projects they undertake to improve teaching, learning, and education research."
With the addition of Floden, the academy now consists of 162 U.S. members and 12 foreign associates who are elected on the basis of outstanding scholarship or outstanding contributions to education. Founded in 1965, the academy's mission is to advance the highest quality research and its use in policy-formation and practice.
A professor of teacher education, measurement and quantitative methods and educational psychology, Floden studies a variety of topics, including the character and effects of teacher education, teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching, and the connections between education policies and practice. He also serves as director of the Institute for Research on Teaching and Learning.
He is past president of the Philosophy of Education Society, and, in 2006, received the Margaret B. Lindsay Award for Distinguished Research in Teacher Education from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
He is co-principal investigator on the college's Teachers for a New Era project, which is funded with grants from the Carnegie Corp. and the Ford and Annenberg foundations. He is also a principal investigator on a National Science Foundation grant, Knowing Mathematics for Teaching Algebra, and a senior staff member for Promoting Rigorous Outcomes in Mathematics and Science.
He received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University and his master's and doctoral degrees from Stanford University.
Floden joins College of Education colleagues and University Distinguished Professors William Schmidt and Jere Brophy, and former dean of the college Professor Emerita Judith Lanier as members of the academy.
For additional information about the academy, go to www.naeducation.org/index.html.
A full directory of academy members can be found at www.naeducation.org/NAEd_Members.html#TopOfPage.
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