Press release April 25, 2023

Flushing, NY, April 25, 2023—Bobbie Kabuto has been appointed dean of the School of Education at Queens College, where she has taught since 2006. She has served as interim dean since 2022. Her appointment puts her at the head of one of the most highly regarded teacher-training grounds in New York and the City University of New York system.

“We are delighted that Professor Kabuto has accepted this appointment,” says Queens College President Frank H. Wu. “The School of Education is a large and dynamic part of our institution, and it holds central importance to our mission as a public institution. She has both the scholarly depth and proven administrative skill and initiative to lead it.” 

Kabuto, who resides in Port Washington, New York, is a tenured full professor and past chair of the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education (EECE). She has a BS in biology with a concentration in education from the University of Richmond in Virginia, and an MS in education (literacy studies) and PhD in reading, language, and cognition (literacy studies) from Hofstra University; she holds a New York State permanent certification as a reading teacher. Prior to her academic career, she taught pre-kindergarten and second grade in Japan.

As dean, Kabuto will work to enhance the School of Education’s profile, visibility, and effectiveness, developing long- and short-range plans and exercising management responsibility for academic program planning, faculty matters, and administration, including staffing, budgets, and facilities. She will also work to foster a high-quality environment of academic teaching, research, and intellectual achievement, and create and strengthen partnerships within and outside the college as a strong advocate.

“I am so pleased that Dr. Bobbie Kabuto will become Queens College’s permanent dean of the School of Education,” says Provost Patricia Price. “The quality of her vision and leadership have been apparent from the outset of her time as interim dean, and I only expect these to strengthen as she transitions into the permanent position. Dean Kabuto brings a fresh perspective tempered by her 17 years of service to the college. Based on the feedback gathered by Witt/Kieffer across all stakeholder groups, Dean Kabuto rose to the top of an outstanding group of national finalists for the position. I would like to thank Dean Daniel Weinstein for his outstanding service to the college by chairing the search committee, and the members of the search committee for their diligence and hard work.” 

Kabuto’s research in reading, literacy, and bilingual learners has resulted in 23 articles in scholarly journals and 13 chapters in books. Her article on “Family Narratives of Biliteracy,” published in Literacy, received the 2019 United Kingdom Literacy Association/Wiley Research in Literacy Education Award. Kabuto has authored two books and edited or coedited five. A respected scholar, she is president of the Center for the Expansion of Language and Thinking (CELT).

While chair of EECE—the largest major in the School of Education and the third largest undergraduate major in the college—Kabuto led 18 tenured and 50–60 adjunct faculty through the throes of the pandemic, including the challenging transition to remote teaching and later return to classrooms. In her inward- and outward-facing role, she had wide-ranging responsibilities that included managing a $3 million budget, coordinating grant-related partnerships, managing assessment and accreditation efforts, organizing curriculum updates current with changing New York State Education Department requirements, and mentoring faculty through tenure and promotion. As chair, she also achieved an 11 percent increase in undergraduate enrollment in the EECE major.

Kabuto says she is “proud and excited” to be named dean and will seek to prepare School of Education graduates for work in diverse urban communities. “Having served the Queens College community for almost two decades, I am deeply committed to the equity-minded and inclusive mission of the college,” she says. “I look forward to fostering a progressive community of learners and leaders grounded in social justice, advocacy, and the School of Education’s conceptual framework that centers on Equity, Excellence, and Ethics (3Es).”

Responsible for academic leadership of the school, she has been preparing for the upcoming Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation process; updating the school’s curriculum; fostering teacher development, tenure, and promotion; and overseeing teacher-education programs run by other departments at Queens College (such as Music Education). She has also worked to develop new and continuing partnerships, including the Netter Center University-Assisted Community Schools Regional Training Center at Binghamton University, New York City schools, community service institutions, and the Townsend Harris High School College Preparatory Program and Bridge Year Program. With an $11-million base operating budget, she also has launched new fundraising, advancement, and alumni relations initiatives.