During her almost 18 years of service to the college, the school’s elementary education and secondary education graduate programs were ranked top in the country for 17 consecutive years by U.S. News and World Report, and six additional areas of graduate study also were ranked within the organization’s top-11 at various points throughout her career.

“Many deans would be happy to have one outstanding program, but she’s had several,” senior associate provost June Youatt said. “She has led the college in the last 17 years to implement an international focus.”

Originally a faculty member at the University of Maryland and faculty member and chair of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Educational Psychology, Ames brought in about 70 percent of the college’s current faculty.

She also pushed the college’s first class of teacher candidates through the year-long internship that remains a part of the school’s five-year teaching program.

“I’m very proud of who we’ve hired,” Ames said. “They’re outstanding faculty.”

Many colleagues praised Ames for her leadership and dedication to the college, including Deborah Feltz, chairperson of the Department of Kinesiology. Feltz said she has worked alongside Ames for 18 of her 23 years as department head.

“She has really relied on the talent of the faculty and leadership in the college to help shape the good ideas that have come about,” Feltz said in an email. “That’s probably what defines her the most.”

Ames’ final year as dean was not without challenges.

Former professor Sharif Shakrani, an ex-member of MSU’s Education Policy Center, was found guilty of plagiarism by a campus investigative committee in April and was released from university affiliation later that month.

Shakrani first came under fire for a 2010 report examining the effects of school district consolidation.

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy first discovered irregularities in Shakrani’s report before the university took action.

“The investigation and decision process was conducted at the university level according to MSU policies regarding allegations of academic misconduct,” Ames said in a statement at the time of the announcement.

As Ames steps away to focus on her research interests, University Distinguished Professor and College of Education Associate Dean for research Robert Floden will serve as interim dean effective Aug. 16.
Penn State University senior scientist and professor of education Donald Heller will take over permanently from Floden on Jan. 1, 2012.

Heller has served as a consultant on higher education and economics to numerous university systems and policy advocate groups during a career that has taken him to both the University of Michigan and Harvard University.

“He brings the expertise and energy, which will be important to our college,” Provost Kim Wilcox said following Heller’s appointment at the Board of Trustees’ June 17 meeting.

Ames said she believes the college will build on its national stature in the near future under new leadership.

“I think it will continue to drive and be very, very strong,” she said. “That is not dependent on me.”