May 2007

Alumna Marguerite Barratt Named Columbian College Dean

A nationally recognized psychologist and researcher and GW alumna will be the next dean of GW’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. Marguerite Barratt, M. Phil. ’78, will assume the helm of GW’s largest school on Aug. 1. Barratt is currently the deputy director of clinical research policy analysis and coordination at the National Institutes of Health and an expert on developmental psychology. Barratt will succeed Professor of Biology Diana Lipscomb, who currently serves as the school’s interim dean.

“GW’s prominence as a magnet for public policy learning and research and its record of training students for professional work, along with its notable faculty, are among the reasons I am eager to join this preeminent institution,” says Barratt. “I hope to work with faculty, students, staff, and alumni to build upon the solid foundation my predecessors had made in developing the Columbian College into one of the nation’s best schools.”

GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg says,“Barratt’s extensive experience in the field and classroom and her commitment to public service will allow the school to continue to grow in prominence in its research and education mission for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as capitalize on GW’s numerous academic strengths with the arts and sciences.”

Prior to her post at the National Institutes of Health, Barratt served as division director for behavioral and cognitive sciences at the National Science Foundation, where she also served as the human subjects research officer for four years. Earlier at Michigan State University, Barratt was director of the Institute for Children, Youth, and Families, a professor of family and child ecology, and professor of psychology.

“We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Peg Barratt to GW,” says Donald R. Lehman, executive vice president for academic affairs. “She brings a solid vision for the role of the college of arts and sciences in a major research university. This vision, combined with her broad leadership and management experience within the academy and government service, positions her to be a major force toward GW realizing its academic aim of becoming a preeminent research university.” Lehman also commends the search committee for a job well done.

Barratt brings 30 years of research and teaching experience in parent-child interactions with a focus on naturalistic field work and attention to specialized populations, including single and teen mothers, parents of children with Down syndrome and preterm infants, and families in Japan. Her research has been published in numerous scholarly journals, and she served as an associate editor of Developmental Psychology. Recently, she authored several papers on developing community-university partnerships, including models of engagement.

Barratt also has extensive experience inside the classroom and has taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in developmental psychology at research institutions. In 1998, she received the University of Wisconsin-Madison Distinguished Teaching Award, where she was a faculty member for 19 years. Barratt earned a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.Phil. from GW, and an M.A. from Michigan State University, each in developmental psychology.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu