Indiana University Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel has announced Anastasia “Stacy” Morrone as the new interim dean of the IU Bloomington School of Education. Morrone is currently the associate vice president of Learning Technologies with the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology and a professor of educational psychology at the IU Bloomington and IUPUI Schools of Education.

Lemuel Watson, who served in this role since 2018, is now associate vice president for the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Multicultural Affairs, and a core faculty member of the Kinsey Institute. Under Watson’s leadership, the School of Education completed a strategic planning process, and spearheaded major initiatives in its diversity and inclusion program. The school was listed among the Best Education Graduate Schools in the 2021 U.S. News & World Report ranking and eight specialty programs were ranked in the top 20.

“Stacy is the ideal person to lead the School of Education during a period when technology is more critical than ever in creating teaching and learning environments to keep students and instructors engaged and connected,” Robel said. “Her deep relationships across the university, her commitment to excellence, and her tireless work made it possible for IU to pivot to remote instruction with integrity. She is a national leader in the use of learning technologies, and I am confident she will lead the School of Education with extraordinary skill and dedication to the school’s mission.”

Rudy Professor Brad Wheeler, IU’s vice president for IT and professor of information systems, called Morrone an exceptional and visionary leader who has been highly effective working closely with faculty across all IU campuses. He added that for 13 years, she has steered IU’s pioneering Teaching & Learning Technologies group to nationally recognized prominence. “In 2018, she presented to the IU trustees regarding her work in leading the Mosaic Faculty Fellows program, which reimagines both IU’s learning spaces and effective pedagogy to enhance learning,” Wheeler said. “She has long worked in partnership with the campus centers for teaching and learning as they support faculty in both residential and online education. Her wisdom, demeanor, and experience will be invaluable to the School of Education as we navigate the year ahead.”

“I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to serve the School of Education in the role of interim dean,” Morrone said. “My entire career -- as a scholar and an administrator -- has been focused on excellence in teaching and learning, and the ways in which technology helps us achieve our goals and engage with our students and colleagues. I look forward to working with the faculty, staff, students, and the community in pursuit of the school’s longstanding and ongoing commitment to excellence and innovation in teaching, research, and service and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.​”

Morrone joined IU in 1997. Her research interests center around instructional practices that promote student motivation and learning, and the ways in which innovative learning environments transform teaching practices. She served as executive director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at IUPUI from 2002 to 2006, when she assumed the university-wide role of associate vice president for Learning Technologies. She has also served as Dean of IT at IUPUI since 2012, and is a member of Provost Robel’s cabinet of vice provosts. In these roles, she works directly with academic deans on IT and teaching and learning matters.

Morrone established the Mosaic Initiative, which supports innovative classroom design, research on IU’s learning spaces, and comprehensive support for instructors. The Mosaic Faculty Fellows program brings together faculty from all disciplines to collaborate on pedagogical approaches and promote evidence-based approaches to designing new learning spaces. Morrone has also led IU’s eText Initiative, engaging with instructors, teaching assistants, and faculty to maximize the effectiveness of digital course materials. She is active in the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, serves on the board of directors for the Unizin Consortium and was the founder of the Unizin Teaching and Learning Group, and participates with the Big Ten Academic Alliance Learning Technologies Leaders Committee. She has won numerous awards, including the P.A. Mack Faculty Academy for Excellence in Teaching (FACET) Award, the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Technology, and the Trustees Teaching Award.

Morrone earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from University of Texas at Austin, and her B.S. in Technical Communication from University of Minnesota.