Advance Your Leadership: Learn from the Best in Sacred Heart University’s Ed.D. Program

What truly sets Sacred Heart’s Ed.D. program apart is its faculty. Students learn from experienced educational leaders, researchers, and practitioner-scholars who bring decades of real-world expertise to the classroom. Through mentorship, collaborative learning, and applied research, faculty help students connect theory to practice and address the challenges facing education today.

Ed.D. Faculty

Wesley Henry, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department Chair & 093 Program Director

Wesley Henry is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Educational Leadership at Sacred Heart University. He also serves as program director for the 093 educational leadership certification program. Henry earned his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Washington and holds a Master of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. His scholarship focuses on equity-centered leadership, educator preparation, and social justice in educational systems. Through his teaching, research, and leadership, Henry is committed to preparing educational leaders who foster inclusive and transformative learning communities.

Kathleen Wallace, Ed.D.

Assistant Teaching Professor, Ed.D. Program Director

Kathleen (Kat) Wallace is an assistant professor and program director of the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership. Wallace is an educator, researcher, and former K–12 reading specialist and school principal whose work centers on exploring the preparation of educational leaders and the application of Ed.D. graduates’ scholarly practitioner skills in professional settings. She earned her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Bridgeport and both her Master of Education in Literacy and bachelor’s in communications from Loyola University (MD). At Sacred Heart University, she draws on both her practical leadership experience and scholarly expertise to prepare educators to meet the evolving needs of students and schools in diverse educational settings.

Abby Beneke, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Abby Beneke is an assistant professor at Sacred Heart University. A former first grade teacher, she seeks to understand the shift from control to care in K-12 schools using ethnographic methods. She brings content expertise in school discipline and its reform, school safety and security, and chronic absenteeism. Beneke earned a Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) with minors in qualitative research methods and curriculum and instruction. Prior to joining the faculty at Sacred Heart, Beneke held postdoctoral appointments in the School of Human Ecology at UW and in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations at Vanderbilt University where she collaborated with Nashville Peer, a research-practice partnership between Metro Nashville Public Schools and Vanderbilt.

Ashley J. Carey, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Ashley Carey is an educational policy researcher. Her work explores how social, political, and policy factors influence K–12 education, with a particular focus on how well-intentioned reforms can create or reinforce educational inequities. Carey teaches and mentors doctoral students while conducting research that has been featured in leading peer-reviewed journals, including AERA Open and Education and Urban Society, as well as national publications such as The Hechinger Report and The Washington Post. She is also a research affiliate with the Beyond Test Scores Project at UMass Amherst and serves on the editorial board of Boston University’s Journal of Education.

Rebecca Mazur, Ph.D.

Rebecca (Becky) Mazur is an assistant professor of educational leadership at Sacred Heart University. Mazur began her career as a high school librarian, an experience that sparked her enduring interest in how educators build fluency with new technologies and in the underlying logics of technology's role in education. Before joining Sacred Heart, she served as a senior research and evaluation scientist at the Collaborative for Educational Services in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she partnered directly with schools, districts, and state agencies on a wide range of problems of practice. Her evaluation work ranged from district curriculum pilots to statewide initiatives, and she worked closely with leadership teams on strategic planning, school improvement, and organizational design. Her portfolio also reflects a sustained focus on emerging technology: she authored the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's official AI Literacy for Educators resource and served as principal investigator on a Meta-funded study of immersive virtual reality in secondary education.

Maureen Ruby, DMD, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Maureen Ruby is the Isabelle Farrington Endowed Chair of Social, Emotional & Academic Leadership and director of the Center of Excellence for Belonging & Leadership. A former dentist turned educator, she has served as a teacher, literacy specialist, district administrator, and assistant superintendent, bringing extensive experience in K-12 education and leadership. Her research focuses on social-emotional learning, literacy, educational neuroscience, artificial intelligence in education, and leadership development, and she currently collaborates with UNESCO’s Global Alliance on the Science of Learning to help address global education challenges.

Want to Know More about the Ed.D. at Sacred Heart University?

Explore how Sacred Heart University’s fully online Ed.D. in Educational Leadership allows you to earn your doctorate while continuing to advance your career. Reach out to Whitney Kolwicz, director of graduate admissions & recruitment, at 203-365-4716, kolwiczw@sacredheart.edu, or schedule a virtual meeting.