Jennifer Lin Russell

Jennifer Lin Russell is a professor of leadership, policy, and organizations in Peabody College at  Vanderbilt University. She also serves as a senior fellow at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and co-directs the Improvement Scholars Network. Her research centers on organizing educational systems for improvement, with a particular emphasis on networked continuous improvement to foster equitable learning opportunities. She was previously an education professor at the University of Pittsburgh, where she chaired the Department of Educational Foundations, Organizations, and Policy and served as associate director for educational research and practice at the Learning Research and Development Center. She co-edited The Foundational Handbook on Improvement Research in Education. Russell began her career as a special education teacher in Oakland, California, and Williamson County, Tennessee. Russell earned her MA in curriculum and instruction from the University of San Francisco and her PhD in education policy, organization, measurement, and evaluation from the University of California, Berkeley.

updated 2025