College of Education welcomes rural education scholar to role of department chair

Kristen Cuthrell, Ed.D., has been named chair of the Department of Education and Human Development in the Clemson University College of Education. Cuthrell will join the faculty and leadership of the College of Education on August 12.

Cuthrell most recently served as director of the East Carolina University (ECU) Rural Education Institute in the College of Education and professor in the ECU’s Department of Elementary Education and Middle Grades Education. Over the last 15 years, Cuthrell has collaborated with others on approximately $30 million in externally funded research and outreach focused on improving and growing community partnerships in rural areas. She also serves as the acting state director for the North Carolina Rural Education Association, an affiliate of the National Rural Education Association. She is the Hub Liaison for the Southeast Regional Hub in the Rural Schools Collaborative.

Kristin Gehsmann, dean of the College of Education, said Cuthrell is a nationally recognized leader and scholar in rural education who will bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to her new post.

“We are incredibly excited to welcome Dr. Cuthrell to the ranks of our faculty and our College leadership team,” Gehsmann said. “Her strong focus on rural education aligns with the priorities of our College; Clemson Elevate, the University’s strategic plan; and our land-grant mission. Her experiences leading one of most impactful rural education institutes in the country will be a tremendous asset.”

Cuthrell’s experiences leading rural education initiatives comes at an opportune time for the College; South Carolina ranks #8 on the National Rural Education Association’s (NREA) list of top-ten priority states in rural education. Cuthrell said the interview process only confirmed the College and University’s commitment to the region, especially its historically underserved and rural areas. She said it is crucial that a college does not try to serve as a “fixer of communities” but as a partner that supports and stands beside families and communities, building on a community’s cultural wealth.

Cuthrell’s career has been distinguished by her ability to listen deeply and connect groups of people to address long-standing challenges in rural communities. She points to the ECU Rural Education Institute’s annual Rural Education Summer Learning Exchange as an example of a recurring event that pulls together school districts, education nonprofits, community leaders, students, families and faculty. 

Nearly 200 people comprised of these groups convened at the event to create resilient spaces in rural schools strengthened by community engagement, leadership, student support and collaborative relationships between educators and community partners.

Cuthrell intends to utilize her skill of bringing people together to form innovative, transformational partnerships within and beyond her new department.

“I know from working with Clemson faculty through past research and scholarship that I’m joining a great team,” Cuthrell said. “I look forward to seeing that persistent, solution-oriented work from the inside.”

Cuthrell has also enjoyed a personal connection with Clemson since her daughter, Sarah, started attending Clemson in 2023. She said her time visiting Clemson as a parent of an incoming first-year student was highly memorable and only furthered her curiosity about the University and the College of Education. Cuthrell said she was increasingly impressed by the sense of community she felt during each subsequent visit to the University with family members.

Cuthrell felt that same sense of community when she visited as a finalist for the department chair position. She was struck by how many people in the College carved out time to speak with her about their work and experiences in the College. She was “sold” even before concluding her two-day campus visit; she now looks forward to continuing those many conversations started with faculty, staff and students.   

“From the moment I got picked up in the golf cart to leaving after my interview, I just met one nice, genuine person after another, which is saying a lot because it was during the craziest time of a semester,” Cuthrell said. “I felt so welcomed, and I really felt the sense of community. Those interactions are where the real work happens, whether it’s hallway conversations or car rides together. Space and proximity are important to me, and they drew me to Clemson.”

Cuthrell serves as principal investigator of ECU’s current Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) grant and previously served as co-principal investigator of ECU’s first TQP grant in 2009. She is a principal investigator on a federal contract for a federal, statewide scaling grant for full-service community schools in North Carolina.

She recently received the ECU COE Diversity Award (2023) and the ECU 2024 Scholarship of Engagement Award. She has led AmeriCorps programming and served as co-PI in a school-based mental health Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant. She is the author of two books, and more than 100 publications and presentations at national and international conferences. She serves on the Executive Editorial team in Theory & Practice in Rural Education, one of only three peer-reviewed journals in rural education research in the US. In addition to her role as department chair, Cuthrell will serve as a Dean’s Fellow of Rural Education and Outreach.