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Whitworth Announces New Appointment to the Sue Chandler Endowed Professorship in Education

April 30, 2018
The Whitworth School of Education is pleased to announce that Kathryn Picanco has been named the second holder of the Sue Chandler Endowed Professorship in Education. 


The focus of Picanco’s efforts while serving as the Chandler Endowed Professor will be supporting authentic learning experiences for student engagement and advancement. The two goals of this focus include creating opportunities for P-12 students to participate in authentic, inquiry-based learning experiences for increased engagement and advancement, and to assist pre-service teachers in understanding the power of authentic instruction through experience and the ways in which they can bring those experiences to their own classrooms.

Picanco holds an Ed.D. and an M.Ed. from Washington State University, and a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University. She has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in the Whitworth School of Education in a variety of capacities since 2004, becoming a faculty member in 2007.

The Whitworth community is grateful to Lisa Laurier, Ed.D., M.Ed., who served as the inaugural Sue Chandler Endowed Professor from 2015-18. Laurier has provided countless hours of service and instruction to the Spokane K-12 community through site-based literacy clinics at local elementary schools.

The Sue Chandler Endowed Professorship in Education was established in fall 2013 by Scott Chandler, ’84, a member of Whitworth’s board of trustees. The professorship is named in honor of Chandler’s wife, Sue, ’85, who has been an instrumental force for improving education in her community of Littleton, Colo.

In 2011, Sue Chandler received the McGuffey Award from the Colorado Association of School Boards. She has also been recognized by a number of other organizations, including Directors of Volunteers in Agencies and Colorado Association of Partners in Education, for her outstanding service in education.

Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private, liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The university, which has an enrollment of nearly 3,000 students, offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.

Contacts:

Trisha Coder, media relations manager, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4703 or tcoder@whitworth.edu.