News

At this morning’s Board Executive meeting Dr. Edgar Schmidt was appointed to the post of Dean of Education, effective July 1, 2017. Dr. Schmidt’s appointment follows Dr. Maureen Stratton’s successful term in the role.

Dr. Schmidt has extensive experience as a classroom teacher, principal, central office administrator and former superintendent of schools, and as Assistant Professor of Education at Concordia University of Edmonton. His expertise and interests encompass educational administration and leadership, science education, sociology of schooling, the politics of education, and community engagement in support of student learning and achievement. Dr. Schmidt has conducted interdisciplinary research on government rhetoric related to school – community collaboration and is particularly interested in critical discourse studies and mixed methods research.

Currently, his research and scholarly work are contributing to the development of a graduate level program along with his colleagues in the Faculty of Education. He is the Faculty of Education Lead in the development of an Embedded Approach to Indigenous Peoples’ Historical and Cultural Topics, with the ongoing support of local Indigenous scholars, Elders, and knowledge keepers. As an Erasmus+ and Mobile+ scholar, he has presented his research findings and research methodology to graduate students at the University of Porto, Portugal.

Dr. Schmidt is continuing his role as Adjunct Professor in Education Policy Studies, Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. He is a Director on the Board of the United Way Capital Region.

He has lived with his wife Debbie in Sherwood Park for over 30 years. They have three adult children. Most recently, they became grandparents and they are enjoying getting to know their little grandson!