Dr. William Lynch has notified University leadership and School of Education colleagues that he will step down as dean of the school at the end of his current term of service on June 30, 2014, President John Fry and Provost Mark Greenberg announced today. Lynch will embark on a year-long sabbatical before returning to the school's faculty.

Lynch has led the School of Education since 2004, a tenure that saw the faculty grow from five full-time members to more than 40 and the student body from about 750 to more than 1,900, many in programs that began under Lynch's deanship. The school has played a major role in establishing the Drexel Network, offering programs in Philadelphia, South Jersey, Pottstown, Harrisburg and Sacramento, and also helped drive the success of Drexel Online.

The School of Education under Lynch has built K-12 school partnerships with the School District of Philadelphia and across the region and managed the Drexel-PECO Community Education Collaborative. Lynch himself has served on the boards of Lindy Scholars, the Collegiate Consortium, West Catholic Preparatory High School, Playworks and Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia.

"During Bill's tenure, the School of Education has played a critical role in advancing Drexel's strategic priorities," Fry and Greenberg wrote in their announcement. "He's built a faculty that includes many leaders in their respective fields, and helped establish a culture of service to the profession of education and to the community."

The announcement said that Greenberg will appoint a search committee for a new dean, to be chaired by Dean Allen Sabinson of Westphal College of Media Arts & Design.