Reno Reporter

A professor and dean at the University of Nevada, Reno, has been appointed chair of a San Francisco-based education and human-services organization.

Dr. Ken Coll will head the education-based organization, WestEd, that provides services to Nevada, California, Utah and Arizona, according to an Aug. 5 Nevada Today release from the university. 

“With his depth of expertise in student development and his deep commitment to teacher education, Ken Coll brings invaluable experience and vision to the board and the agency’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion,” WestEd CEO Glen Harvey said in the release. 

Harvey added he was looking forward to collaborating with Coll to enhance the organization’s initiatives, the release reported. 

“WestEd is unique in its deep partnership and engagement with its board through our committee structure,” said Coll, professor of counseling and educational psychology in the College of Education and Human Development at UNR. “I am grateful for the strong board leadership of previous chairs, most recently Jacob Moore, and am looking forward to continued progress.”

Coll becomes the first Nevadan to lead the organization in 25 years and has been a board member since 2013, the release reported. The organization’s board of directors is made up of directors in charge of business, education and health industry, both public and private.

“These are difficult times in our country and in the world," Coll said in the release. "WestEd provides much needed objective knowledge, research, skills and commitment to assist in critical areas of educational works such as college and career readiness, health, safety and wellbeing.”