Sarah Jourdain Named Inaugural Executive Director of Teacher Education at Stony Brook University

Stony Brook University has appointed Sarah Jourdainas the inaugural executive director of teacher education, a newly created position designed to strengthen and expand the university's commitment to preparing the next generation of educators.

In this role, Jourdain will provide leadership and coordination across Stony Brook's wide-ranging teacher education programs in world languages, bilingual/teaching English to speakers of other languages, English, mathematics, science, and social studies. She will also continue to serve as director of teacher education for world languages, a position she has held for more than two decades.

Bridging Schools to Strengthen Teacher Preparation

Jourdain's appointment creates a vital bridge between the School of Professional Development (SPD) and the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), strengthening the integration of subject matter expertise with pedagogical training. SBU offers multiple pathways for students to earn degrees that qualify them to be certified middle and high school teachers, including discipline-specific BA/BS with the teacher education option, combined BA/MAT or BS/MAT, and a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) for those with an already earned baccalaureate degree.

With more than 400 students currently enrolled in Stony Brook's teacher preparation programs, Jourdain's leadership will help guide the university in preparing educators who combine strong subject knowledge with effective teaching practice, ready to meet the evolving needs of New York State schools.

"Sarah combines an incredibly deep understanding of our discipline-specific teacher education pathways with contextual knowledge of the programmatic resources we need to marshal to ensure we create the conditions that facilitate our students' success," said Peter Diplock, vice provost of continuing, professional and online education.

A Record of Leadership and Excellence

An associate professor of French and pedagogy, Jourdain has most recently served as chair of the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies in CAS, where she oversaw programs in French, Italian, and other world languages. She has long been an active member of the university's Distributed Teacher and Leader Education (D-Tale) steering committee, which coordinates teacher preparation across multiple departments and schools.

"I am very pleased to accept this new role. One of my key tasks will be increasing the visibility of our excellent teacher education programs and getting the word out that Stony Brook is a premier destination for high-quality teacher preparation. I'll also be working on developing new programs, both on campus and online, to meet the changing needs of the teaching profession," said Jourdain.

Jourdain's teaching excellence has been recognized throughout her career. She was honored with the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teachingin 2021 and received the 'Palmes Académiques' from the French government in 2010 for contributions to the teaching of French language and culture. She is also a prolific scholar, with an extensive publication record that includes authoring a first-year French textbook and securing numerous grants, including several federal StarTalk awardsto develop language programs in Turkish, Persian, and Arabic.

She holds a PhD in French Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition and a master's degree in French Linguistics from Indiana University, as well as a bachelor's degree in the Teaching of French and German from the University of Illinois, where she graduated summa cum laude. Jourdain is a Fulbright recipient and was certified in New York State to teach high school French and German.

"I look forward to partnering with my colleagues to strengthen the teacher education experiences of our students," Jourdain added.