Stony Brook University has named Sarah Jourdain as the first executive director of teacher education. The new position aims to enhance and coordinate the university’s various teacher preparation programs, which include world languages, English, mathematics, science, and social studies.
Jourdain will continue her long-standing role as director of teacher education for world languages. She has served in this capacity for over 20 years. Her appointment is expected to strengthen collaboration between the School of Professional Development and the College of Arts and Sciences at Stony Brook. The university offers several degree pathways that prepare students for teaching certification in New York State schools.
Currently, more than 400 students are enrolled in Stony Brook’s teacher preparation programs. In her new role, Jourdain will help guide these programs to better equip future educators with both subject knowledge and effective teaching skills.
“Sarah combines an incredibly deep understanding of our discipline-specific teacher education pathways with contextual knowledge of the programmatic resources we need to marshal to ensure we create the conditions that facilitate our students’ success,” said Peter Diplock, vice provost of continuing, professional and online education.
Jourdain is an associate professor of French and pedagogy. She recently chaired the Department of Languages and Cultural Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, overseeing programs in multiple world languages. She has also been active on the Distributed Teacher and Leader Education steering committee at Stony Brook.
“I am very pleased to accept this new role. One of my key tasks will be increasing the visibility of our excellent teacher education programs and getting the word out that Stony Brook is a premier destination for high-quality teacher preparation. I’ll also be working on developing new programs, both on campus and online, to meet the changing needs of the teaching profession,” said Jourdain.
Her career includes recognition such as the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2021 and France’s ‘Palmes Académiques’ award in 2010 for contributions to French language instruction. Jourdain has authored a first-year French textbook and received several grants—including federal StarTalk awards—to develop language programs in Turkish, Persian, and Arabic.
She holds advanced degrees from Indiana University in French linguistics and second language acquisition as well as a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois. Jourdain is a Fulbright recipient who was certified by New York State to teach high school French and German.
“I look forward to partnering with my colleagues to strengthen the teacher education experiences of our students,” Jourdain added.