Dean Lucas Student Leadership Award

On June 30, 2021, Dean Tamara Lucas will say farewell to the CEHS Dean’s Office after 16 years as both Dean and Associate Dean to the College. Her 23-year tenure at the college began with a faculty appointment in 1998, and will come full circle when she returns to the faculty in Fall 2022. CEHS Faculty, Staff, Alumni and Friends would like to recognize and celebrate Dean Lucas’ leadership with a named award that honors all she has done for the College of Education and Human Services.  This award, named the Dean Lucas Leadership Award, will recognize the leadership of two deserving students – one from Education and another student from Human Services with scholarships.  If we are able to collectively assemble $25,000 to endow this named award, two well deserving students will be able to receive an award for many years to come.  

Dean Lucas credits her success to following in the footsteps of wonderful predecessors, collaborating with alumni and advisory board members, and supporting innovative faculty. During turbulent and challenging times for CEHS, Dean Lucas' leadership soared above adversity to provide practical and exemplary solutions that eventually elevated the college to new heights of progressive growth. 

Some of her successes to highlight are:

• Her strong support for faculty research and faculty engagement in developing outstanding education and human services professionals enabled both valuable publications and millions of grant and external funding to the college.  
• Created new departments by reorganizing existing departments to develop departments in: Public Health, Counseling, Nutrition and Food Science, Educational Leadership, and Teaching and Learning.
• Fortified the growth of three PhD programs, which supports the next generation of scholars and professionals.
• Guided the incredibly successful centers that help the college extend its profile beyond the university.
• Intensified the focus of equity and social justice in the college framework.
• Supported innovative initiatives like the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Education Project, Increasing Access to Education Program, Urban Educator Speaker Series, etc.
• Established the first CEHS Advisory Board.
• Increased funding for student scholarships through her Dean Lucas #Scholarships4CEHS Challenge.

How can you help?

Dean Lucas sees a future for students and the college where we continue to grow, become a campus model for social justice, advance academic and professional excellence, place high value for increased collaboration, and honor each other as members of an interconnected community.  

Continue Dean Lucas' vision by supporting the Dean Lucas Leadership Award with a gift of $25 or any amount you are able to contribute at this time to celebrate her leadership. Thank you in advance for your consideration of this request to recognize and celebrate Dean Tamara Lucas. For more information, please contact Yanira Amadeo, Director of Development, at amadeoy@montclair.edu.