WCU Provost Kyle Carter announced Friday, Aug. 24, that Dougherty, currently the senior dean at Western, will be entering phased retirement beginning in the fall 2008 semester.

“I have been wrestling with this decision about retirement for the past couple of years,” said Dougherty, who served as associate dean of the college from 1996 until 1998. “To be truthful, I really don’t have a good reason to retire. I have a great job and great colleagues. I love what I do and still feel vital. At the same time, I feel like Forrest Gump when he stopped running. When asked why he stopped running, he replied, ‘I just stopped.’”

Under Dougherty’s leadership, the College of Education and Allied Professions has built upon a national reputation for its high-quality teacher education program that traces its roots back to the university’s founding as a teacher’s college, said WCU Chancellor John W. Bardo.

“With Michael at the helm, the college has garnered an impressive collection of accolades, including the Association of Teacher Educators’ 2006 Distinguished Program in Teacher Education Award,” Bardo said. “This fall, for the third consecutive year, our School-University Teacher Education Partnership program is a national finalist for the Christa McAuliffe Award, presented by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. These recognitions provide significant validation that the college is on the right track.”

Western’s teacher education programs also have been designated as “exemplary” by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. “I attribute these hallmarks of success to the caliber of the faculty, staff, students and public school partners,” Dougherty said.

A professor in the department of human services and former head of the department, Dougherty has been a WCU faculty member since 1976. He received the Paul A. Reid Distinguished Service Award for Faculty in 1988, and is a past nominee for the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award and the Taft Botner Award for Superior Teaching. Prior to coming to Western, he was a teacher and counselor in public schools in Detroit; Mattoon, Ill.; and Taylor County, Fla.

 “Between Michael Dougherty and his predecessor Gurney Chambers, who served as dean for 17 years, the next dean of the College of Education and Allied Professions will be assuming leadership of an academic unit that is on extremely solid ground,” Carter said. “We will be searching for someone who can build upon the college’s existing strengths and help us work to solve a critical shortage of teachers and other education-related professionals. On a personal note, I want to thank Michael for being a great colleague during my tenure here. I will miss his leadership, insight and camaraderie.”

A national search for the next dean of the college will get under way this fall, said Carter.

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Last modified: Friday, Aug. 24, 2007