Contact: Allison Matthews

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A veteran Mississippi State administrator, professor and elementary classroom teacher is being named dean of the university’s College of Education.

Provost and Executive Vice President David Shaw announced today [Feb. 26] that Teresa Jayroe is the new College of Education dean after having served as associate dean since 2011. She previously worked as director for the college’s Office of Clinical/Field-Based Instruction, Licensure and Outreach.

“Dr. Terry Jayroe has served our university faithfully for a number of years, and I am looking forward to her ongoing leadership in this role as she provides a visionary path for our College of Education. Dr. Jayroe is known for her excellent work ethic and her unfailing dedication to students at all levels—from the K-12 schoolchildren to our own undergraduate and graduate students, she wants to see scholars learning and growing at every stage,” Shaw said.

Jayroe succeeds Richard Blackbourn, who served as dean for 15 years before returning to a faculty role and classroom teaching at the beginning of this year. Dean Angi Bourgeois of MSU’s College of Architecture, Art and Design chaired the search committee for the position, which presented two finalists to the campus community after a national search.

Jayroe joined the MSU faculty in 1997, first as lecturer in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, with promotions to assistant professor in 1999, associate professor in 2005 and professor in 2010. Before joining the university, she taught kindergarten through second grade for 13 years in the Louisville Municipal Separate School District and the Philadelphia Public School District.

She completed her Ph.D. in education with a concentration in elementary education and her Education Specialist degree with a concentration in educational leadership, both at Mississippi State. She also has master’s and bachelor’s degrees in elementary education from MSU.

“I am excited about the opportunity to work with my colleagues to continue advancing the College of Education at Mississippi State,” said Jayroe. “Education has been my life’s work and the first thing I learned is that success in this field is a collaborative process. I come into this position from that philosophical standpoint. I’m grateful for the university’s confidence in me.”

Throughout her tenure, Jayroe has been awarded numerous grants for projects related to teaching and learning. Her administrative duties have included oversight of major grant projects, including contracts for the university’s Mississippi Migrant Education Service Center and the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program, among others. Her research has included Mississippi teacher retention and elementary education teacher preparation.    

In 2020, she served as chair of the Mississippi Association of Colleges of Teacher Education Taskforce for Elementary Education Endorsement. She also is a member of the Mississippi Education Preparation Provider Collaborative Committee and has served as an editorial board member of the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education. In 2016, she was named a Southeastern Conference Academic Leadership Development Program Fellow.

Established in 1903, MSU’s College of Education is home to six academic departments, one research unit and numerous service units. For more on the college, visit www.educ.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.