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Jan. 13, 2021

Three MSU researchers named top education influencers

Three Michigan State University faculty members earned national recognition for their influential research in the field of education.

The annual Rick Hess Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings honor 200 scholars from across the U.S. who have shaped education research, policy and practice.

MSU scholars included in the 2021 ranking are:

  • Barbara Schneider, John A. Hannah Chair and University Distinguished Professor in the College of Education and Department of Sociology (no. 79 —up from 103 in 2020)
  • William Schmidt, University Distinguished Professor and director of the Center for the Study of Curriculum Policy (no. 120)
  • Katharine Strunk, Clifford E. Erickson Distinguished Chair in Education, professor of education policy and faculty director of the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative, or EPIC (no. 145 — up from 165 in 2020)

More than 20,000 scholars qualify to be on the list, which is calculated based on scores in nine categories, such as citations via Google Scholar, news coverage, online mentions and books. The list, now in its 11th year, is compiled from last year’s list of scholars plus at-large selections by a committee of scholars.

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