Columbia University provost Claude Steele will be the University’s next School of Education dean, according to a press release from the University. Steele, who taught at Stanford from 1991 to 2009, will assume his position September 1, succeeding current dean Deborah Stipek.

During his previous stint at Stanford, Steele taught social sciences and served as the director of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.

“For nearly two decades, Claude Steele was an integral part of Stanford University and it will be a pleasure to welcome him back in this capacity,” President John Hennessy said in the announcement. “His academic expertise and his demonstrated leadership will serve not only the School of Education, but the university as a whole.”

—Ivy Nguyen