UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State College of Education has named alumnus Joseph A. Polizzi as the new director of the Online Education Doctorate Program and associate teaching professor.
In this position, Polizzi will support the development, implementation and administration of the D.Ed. (doctor of education) Professional Doctoral program offered through Penn State World Campus.
“We are excited to place our new online D.Ed. program in the hands of Dr. Polizzi,” said Rayne Sperling, associate dean of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies, and professor of education (educational psychology). “We are confident that with his stewardship, the D.Ed. program offered via World Campus will uphold the high standards that have become synonymous with the Penn State College of Education.”
As the program liaison with the World Campus, Polizzi also will be involved with admissions and advising, materials development, course enrollment management, coordination with curriculum committees, coordinating logistics for scheduling courses and coverage, organizing and implementing doctoral student recruitment efforts.
“This new online education doctorate program is an important development for the future of the Penn State College of Education,” said Gerald LeTendre, H.L. Batschelet Chair of Education (educational leadership). “With the addition of Dr. Polizzi, we are now better positioned than ever to prepare tomorrow’s educational leaders to promote equitable and compassionate practices wherever they practice.”
Polizzi graduated from Penn State in 2007 with a doctorate in educational administration and leadership. He holds a master’s in secondary education-English from Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, and a bachelor's degree in English from Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York.
He comes to Penn State from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, where he had been serving as director and associate professor in the Leadership and Literacy Department since 2019.
Prior to that, Polizzi worked for 12 years as faculty member at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He also served six years as a graduate assistant in the Penn State College of Education and spent seven years as a high school English teacher in New York City.