Office of the Dean
Robert C. Knoeppel was appointed dean of the William & Mary School of Education in Summer 2020. Longtime educator and noted scholar on educational finance innovation, Dean Knoeppel previously served as dean of the College of Education at the University of South Florida.
Knoeppel received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds both a master’s and doctorate from the University of Virginia.
He began his career in Virginia working as a school counselor, administrator and coach for the public school system. While working in those roles, he also taught courses as an adjunct instructor for the University of Virginia and George Mason University.
Knoeppel started working in higher education fulltime in 2004 when he became an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky. In 2008, he became an assistant professor of educational leadership at Clemson University and rose through the ranks over the next few years, serving as program coordinator and ultimately chair of the Department of Educational and Organizational Leadership Development. He began his current position at the University of South Florida in 2018.
Throughout his career in academia, Knoeppel has served on various campus committees, including Clemson’s Faculty Senate, Graduate Academic Integrity Committee and University Assessment Committee, which he chaired in 2015-2016. Within Clemson’s College of Education, he was a member of the Curriculum Committee, Diversity Committee and Student Services Committee, among others. He was also a member of the University Senate at the University of Kentucky and served on multiple committees, including those focused on strategic planning and undergraduate admissions and standards.
Knoeppel is as accomplished a scholar as he is a teacher and administrator and has authored more than 100 refereed journal publications, book chapters, technical reports and conference papers about education finance, education reform and educational leadership. In 2019, he co-authored the textbook “Financing education in a climate of change.”
He has served with multiple professional associations, including the American Educational Research Association and University Council for Educational Administration. He has held myriad roles with the National Education Finance Academy and was installed as its president in April. That organization honored him with its Scholarly Paper of the Year Award for three consecutive years. His other accolades include the Excellence in Teaching Award from the Eugene T. Moore School of Education and National Education Finance Conference Distinguished Research & Practice Fellow Award.
