Mary John O’Hair, Ed.D.

Professor

Dr. Mary John O’Hair is a professor of Educational Leadership Studies at the University of Kentucky. Dr. O’Hair served as dean of the UK College of Education (2009-2018). Prior to moving to Kentucky, she served as vice provost and K20 Center director at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. O’Hair began her career as a middle school teacher in Texas and New Mexico. She has a distinguished teaching and research record at four universities. Dr. O’Hair has led educational transformation initiatives internationally and across the United States. She served as principal investigator for grants totaling more than $40 million designed to improve learning and leading in P-12 and higher education, including one U.S. patent for co-inventing an electronic game-based learning system. Dr. O’Hair was the founding editor of Teacher Education Yearbook and has served as co-editor and associate editor for multiple publications in communication and education disciplines. Currently, she serves as a series editor for Wiley Blackwell’s scholarly book series on Communicating Science in Times of Crisis. Dr. O’Hair has published numerous journal articles and books on topics including educational leadership, foundations of democratic education, risk and crisis communication, organizational learning, and engaged scholarship.

Research categories: Communication, Educational Leadership, Innovation, Learning