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Frances Lawrenz

Professor
Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Psychology
College of Education and Human Development

“Interacting with, learning from, and helping others to learn have been an intrinsic part of my life for almost 40 years. My goal is to help my students love learning as much as I do.”

“She was downright stealthy in her ability to transform qualitative research theory into practice,” says one student of Frances Lawrenz. “I was oblivious to all I was learning because of the fun and enthusiastic atmosphere she created.” Another says, “Everyone felt like a superstar in her class.”

Lawrenz’s classroom skills extend into her research. “I would like to highlight the word with, because no one works for Frances,” says a student. “Her projects are a complete collaborative effort. She is teaching us how to be researchers.”

As an adviser, Lawrenz’s accessibility, responsiveness, and support are hallmarks. “Her enthusiasm for research and learning is contagious,” says an advisee. “I leave every meeting with her feeling more confident and excited about graduate school and the future that lies beyond it.”

Since joining the University in 1986, Lawrenz has taught 27 courses in three departments.

She helped to found the distinctive Evaluation Studies Program; and she applies evaluation methods to courses, programs, and advising to improve them. As evaluation has gained critical importance in education, Lawrenz has won major grants that support and train graduate students.

In the Graduate School, Lawrenz made major, long-lasting contributions to graduate education across the University, with particular initiatives in quality mentoring and ethics. Says a colleague, “She believes that there is nothing we do so well that we cannot do it better.”