Francisco Rios was recently appointed to serve as dean for the Wooding College of Education at Western Washington University.

“I am absolutely delighted to be able to announce that Dr. Francisco Rios will become the next dean of Woodring College of Education,” provost Catherine Riordan said in a press release. “His experience as a faculty member, academic administrator and educational leader on the national scene has prepared him well for this position.”

The dean of Woodring College is responsible for providing academic and administrative leadership to 80 faculty and 39 staff members in five academic departments, three off-campus program sites and four related centers. The dean reports directly to the provost and serves on the university’s Council of Deans.

Rios will begin at Western on or before Sept. 1, 2011, and was selected following a national search. He will succeed Stephanie Salzman, who retired.

“I’m honored to have been chosen for the position of dean of Woodring College of Education.  The outstanding reputation of Western Washington University and of Woodring College drew me to apply for the position. The quality of work and the commitment of the faculty and staff to address the most substantial issues facing education led me to accept the invitation for this position. I’m especially looking forward to strengthening existing school-university partnerships in the region,” Rios said in a press release.

Rios, professor and chair of the educational studies department in the College of Education and founding director of the Social Justice Research Center at the University of Wyoming, is a nationally known figure in the field of multicultural education. He received his master’s and doctorate degrees in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He has more than 30 years of experience as a teacher, teacher-educator and administrator.