The Bailey Graduate School of Education in association with the Grace Goodrich Lecture Series is hosting H. Richard Milner IV (also known as Rich) as the distinguished lecturer for this year's event.  Milner is Cornelius Vanderbilt Endowed Chair of Education and Professor of Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University.

He has secondary appointments as Professor of Sociology and Professor of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt.  His research, teaching and policy interests concern urban teacher education, African American literature, and the social context of education.  In particular, Professor Milner's research examines practices and policies that support teacher effectiveness in urban schools.

Over the last 18 years,m he has worked closely with schools and districts to help close opportunity gaps.  His research has appeared in numerous journals.  He has published seven books, including the widely read, Start Where You Are, but Don't Stay There: Understanding Diversity, Opportunity Gaps and Teaching in Today's Classrooms (2010, Harvard Education Press), and Rac(e)ing to Class: Confronting Poverty and Race in Schools and Classrooms (2015, Harvard Education Press).  In 2016, he became a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association.  Currently, he is Editor-in-chief of Urban Education and co-editor of the Handbook of Urban Education (2014, Routledge Press). 

Reception is from 5-6:00 P.M.  Lecture begins at 6:00 P.M. in the Grand Pavilion Ballroom.