Gretchen Givens Generett, PhD, is Dean and Professor in the School of Education and the Noble J. Dick Endowed Chair in Community Outreach at Duquesne University. She is also past president of the American Educational Studies Association (AESA). Her work intermingles educational foundations, school leadership, African American studies, and feminist studies with more progressive concepts of justice that examine agency, empowerment, and action.
She is committed to work that prioritizes developing practical solutions to address complex problems in urban, suburban, and rural school districts and to policies that demonstrate school improvement.
Dr. Generett writes about leadership and is published in both academic and teaching journals. Her most recent work includes the co-authored books, The American dream for students of color: Barriers to educational success (with Amy M. Olson, Ph.D.) and Taking Up Equity Leadership: A Guide for Building Equity-Focused Schools and Systems (with Sharon, I. Radd, Ed.D., Mark A. Gooden, Ph.D., and George Theoharis, Ph.D.).
Dr. Generett proudly serves on numerous boards in the public and private sector and is a 2018 graduate of EPLC. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Spelman College and a doctorate in Social Foundations from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
She resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her husband William Generett, Jr. and is the proud parent of William, III and Gabrielle.