David Sapp, Ph.D., professor of education leadership, became dean of Graduate Education at Loyola Marymount University in February 2020. Sapp concurrently serves as vice provost for Academic Affairs. As graduate dean, Sapp is the institution-wide academic leader of graduate studies, advocating for graduate students and their faculty, optimizing structures and policies, and determining opportunities for growth. He is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the university’s strategic plan in regards to graduate education; the oversight for individual graduate programs, including faculty hiring and evaluation, budgets, and assessment, will remain – as is appropriate – with the deans who head each of these programs.
Sapp collaborates with colleagues across campus on a variety of matters vital to the success of graduate education at LMU (e.g., accreditation, new program development, support services, fundraising). He closely partners with Maureen Weatherall, vice provost for Enrollment Management, who applies her expertise to improve the business operations of graduate education including admissions, student recruitment, and financial aid. In his continuing role as vice provost for Academic Affairs, Sapp serves as chief of staff for the provost with oversight for campus units leading undergraduate education, assessment/accreditation, institutional research, data governance, and continuing education. Sapp serves as the provost’s primary liaison with the Board of Trustees Academic Affairs committee, chaired by Trustee Mary Beth Ingham, C.S.J.
“Over the past year, Dr. Sapp has worked collaboratively with all LMU constituencies under the graduate education umbrella while overseeing LMU’s engagement with the consultancy firm Art & Science Group,” said Thomas Poon, LMU’s executive vice president and provost. He adds, “as a result, no one is better positioned to synthesize and address the needs and goals of LMU’s 90+ graduate programs and to help our academic units imagine exciting new programs that have significant impact, contribute to critical social transformation, and are distinguished by inclusive excellence and academic rigor.”
Mary McCullough, interim dean for the School of Education, remarked, “Dr. Sapp is the perfect choice for this position and a proven advocate for Graduate Education and student success. As a colleague in the School of Education he is respected by all as an excellent professor and a prolific scholar, always willing to serve. He generously shares his love for teaching both graduate and undergraduate students. His leadership helped colleagues advance the doctoral program and support students to conduct social justice research. He will now have the opportunity to share his leadership and ethic of care with all faculty and students.”
Sapp came to LMU in 2015 from Fairfield University, where he served on the faculty for 14 years, most recently as professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences, and associate vice president for academic affairs. Sapp earned his Ph.D. in rhetoric from New Mexico State University in 2001, and has received administrative training in Harvard University’s Institute for Educational Management and from the American Council on Education. In a 25-year career as an educator, he has taught 36 different courses in rhetoric, critical theory/cultural studies, and research methods at the undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels, holding several faculty appointments outside the U.S., including visiting positions at Universidad Centroamericana de Managua in Nicaragua, China Agricultural Engineering University in Beijing, and as a Fulbright specialist at Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia. LMU is the fourth Catholic institution at which Sapp has served as a teacher or researcher.
As a scholarly expert in technical writing and civic engagement, Sapp has published more than 70 journal articles, chapters in edited collections, textbooks, and instructional publications, many funded by grants and receiving research awards. His publications – with co-authors from among his students, junior faculty colleagues, staff, and community partners – have been cited by scholars in over 50 countries. In recent years, Sapp has published on topics such as teacher credibility, student motivation, faculty mentorship, service-learning pedagogy, and conflict resolution. In 2016, he was recognized as a seminal scholar in the field of technical communication. Sapp was recently appointed to the State Superintendent’s Task Force on College Affordability for the California Department of Education.
Past graduate deans with similar responsibilities at LMU have included Shane Martin and Joseph Hellige. Their leadership has positioned Sapp to take LMU graduate education to the next level as vice provost for academic affairs and dean of Graduate Education, which is now one of the most common leadership configurations across the academy.
Sapp is thrilled to have the opportunity to serve Loyola Marymount University in this new role, particularly as LMU explores its future as a Carnegie R2 Doctoral University: High Research Activity. His high standards and integrity, with a commitment to LMU’s Catholic and Jesuit traditions, will continue to contribute to and lead the university’s priorities in graduate education. Please welcome Dean Sapp to his new academic leadership position and thank him for this new way in which he will continue to be of service to the students and faculty of Loyola Marymount University.
