Mark Anthony Gooden

Mark Anthony Gooden

Mark Anthony Gooden, PhD, is a Christian Johnson Endeavor professor of education leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University. His research focuses broadly on culturally responsive school leadership, with specific interests in principalship, antiracist leadership, urban educational leadership, and legal issues in education. Before entering higher education, Dr. Gooden served as a secondary mathematics teacher and department chair in Columbus Public Schools in Ohio and later as an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati, where he also directed several leadership programs for seven years.

Later, he served as the Margie Gurley Seay Centennial professor of education at the University of Texas at Austin and as director of the principalship program for nearly nine years. Dr. Gooden is the former president of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), a consortium of over 100 higher education institutions committed to advancing the preparation and practice of educational leaders. He is also the 2017 recipient of the UCEA Jay D. Scribner Mentoring Award and the 2021 recipient of the UCEA Master Professor Award for distinguished service in teaching, curriculum development, and student mentoring. Additionally, he coauthored Five Practices for Equity-Focused School Leadership, and his research has appeared in American Educational Research Journal, Educational Administration Quarterly, Teachers College Record, The Journal of Negro Education & Urban Education, Review of Educational Research, Educational Leadership, Education Week, and more.

With over two decades in higher education, Dr. Gooden has developed and taught courses in culturally responsive leadership, race, law, and research methods—and he has consulted with school districts, universities, and nonprofit organizations by designing and delivering professional development courses and workshops in antiracist leadership, law, and community building.

Dr. Gooden earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Georgia’s Albany State University, part of HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). He also holds a master’s degree in mathematics education, a second master’s degree, and a doctorate in policy and leadership from Ohio State University.