Julie K. Underwood is a former dean of the University of Wisconsin School of Education and is the first woman to lead UW's School of Education as dean. She served in her role as dean of UW's School of Education from August 2005 to July 2015.Julie K. Underwood
Edweek

Biography

Underwood received her bachelor's degree in Political Science from

DePauw University DePauw University ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury College and changed its name to DePauw University in 1884. The college has a Methodist heritage and was ...

in 1976, her law degree from Indiana University School of Law in 1979, and her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in 1984. Early in her career as an attorney, she worked at the

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is an agency of the Wisconsin state government responsible for overseeing state education and public libraries in Wisconsin. In addition to oversight of public primary and secondary education ...

(DPI) in a number of positions, including State Hearing Officer, State Reviewing Officer, and Interim General Counsel. Underwood served on the faculty of the Department of Educational Administration (now Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis) at

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

from 1986 to 1995. There in 1994, she received the Emil H. Steiger Award for Excellence in Teaching. She then left

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

to serve as dean of

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

's School of Education and Allied Professions (now School of Education, Health & Society) from 1995 to 1998 and then as Associate Executive Director and General Counsel for the

National School Boards Association The National School Boards Association (NSBA) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit educational organization operating as a federation of state associations of school boards across the United States. Founded in 1940, NSBA represents state school ...

(NSBA) in Washington, DC and

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

from 1998 to 2005. At the NSBA, she led a legal advocacy program on behalf of the nation’s public school boards, a responsibility that included presenting friend-of-the-court briefs and legal strategies before the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts. She also was responsible for the 3,000-member Council of School Attorneys. At University of Wisconsin–Madison, Underwood has served as chair of the Department of Educational Administration (1993–94), where she became the first woman to earn tenure in that department; Associate Dean of the School of Education (1994–95);Co-Director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Policy at the Robert M. La Follette Institute of Public Affairs (1990–93) and eventually the first woman to be the Dean of the School of Education. She served in this role for a decade, from 2005 to 2015. She then returned to her faculty position as a tenured professor at UW-Madison in both the School of Education and the Law School. She served as interim provost at the University from January 2009 to July 2009. From 2017-2019 Underwood served on th
Blue Ribbon Commission for School Funding
, a bi-partisan legislative and expert commission that was taking a comprehensive look at the Wisconsin public school funding formula. Underwood is also the Board President for the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools, the financial arm of th
Wisconsin Public Education Network
The Network received the prestigious
Friend of Education Award
from DPI in 2018. She co-authored several books, including ''School Law for Teachers'' (Prentice Hall, 2006), ''Legal Aspects of Special Education and Pupil Services'' (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1995), and ''The Principal’s Legal Handbook'' (Education Law Association, 1993). She also writes a monthly column for ''

Phi Delta Kappan PDK International (also known as PDK or Phi Delta Kappa International) is an international professional organization for educators. It was founded on January 24, 1906, at Indiana University. The fraternity administers the collegiate honor society ...

'', a professional magazine that publishes articles and editorials in the field of education, and has several other publications in ''Educational Horizons'' and ''The Nation,'' among many others.

Amicus Briefs in U.S. Supreme Court Cases

Underwood has also written amici briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court and argued before the Court in several hallmark cases, including: *''Garcetti v. Ceballos'', 547 U.S. 410 (2006); *''Schaffer v. Weast'', 546 U.S. 49 (2005); *''Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education'', 544 U.S. 167 (2005); *''American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky v. McCreary County'', Kentucky, 545 U.S. 844 (2005); *''Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow'', 542 U.S. 1 (2004) (also on oral argument team); *''Locke v. Davey'', 540 U.S. 712 (2004); *''Gratz v. Bollinger'', 539 U.S. 244 (2003) (coordinator for K-12 amicus parties); *''Grutter v. Bollinger'', 539 U.S. 306 (2003) (coordinator for K-12 amicus parties); *''United States v. American Library Association'', 539 U.S. 194 (2003); *''Gonzaga University v. Doe'', 536 U.S. 273 (2002); *''Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls'', 536 U.S. 822 (2002) (also on oral argument team); *''Zelman v. Simmons-Harris'', 536 U.S. 639 (2002) (also on oral argument team); *''Owasso Independent School Dist. No. I-011 v. Falvo'', 534 U.S. 426 (2002) (also on oral argument team); *''Good News Club v. Milford Central School'', 533 U.S. 98 (2001) (also on oral argument team); *''Mitchell v. Helms'', 530 U.S. 1296 (2000) (also on oral argument team); *''Davis v. Monroe County Bd. of Educ.'', 526 U.S. 629 (1999) (also on oral argument team).

Articles

Media Mentions

*National News Mentions **Video ***https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/07/20/537958123/betsy-devos-latest-speech-draws-protests-even-before-she-speaks ***https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/school-concerns-spur-passions-in-wisconsin-governors-race **Written ***https://aacte.org/7-jte-faqs/27-how-do-i-advertise-in-jte.html *Local News Mentions **Video ***Wisconsin Public Television ****https://video.wpt.org/video/university-place-wisconsins-education-challenges-ep-568/ (2011) ****Here and Now Appearances (2019) *****https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM1LQZyzxx0 *****https://www.facebook.com/WisconsinPublicTelevision/videos/noon-wednesday-with-guest-julie-underwood/1159265300919815/ ***https://wiseye.org/2013/04/15/newsmakers-changes-to-vouchers-charter-schools/ ***https://wiseye.org/2011/10/22/alecs-impact-on-legislation-part-2-of-4/ ***https://wiseye.org/2009/11/17/wiscape-wi-idea-forum-innovative-ideas-for-need-based-financial-aid-in-wisconsin-part-2-of-3/ ***Wisconsin Science Festival Testimonial, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEr8MG7zGfY ***Art, Sciences, Action, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEr8MG7zGfY ***School of Education TV (UW Madison) Interview with Julie Underwood, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEr8MG7zGfY **Audio ***https://wiseye.org/podcast/newsmakers-changes-to-vouchers-charter-schools/ **Written ***https://www.supportuw.org/stories/feature/dr-julie-underwood-former-dean-of-school-of-education-makes-estate-gift/ ***https://www.uwhealth.org/transplant/2018-transplant-and-organ-donation-calendar-bill-mckenzie-and-julie-underwood/51491 ***https://www.depauw.edu/news-media/latest-news/category/76/details/29567/ ***https://madison.com/ct/news/local/writers/pat_schneider/uw-madison-s-julie-underwood-says-controversial-teacher-education-rankings/article_1ac1fcba-f7ee-11e3-ac1f-001a4bcf887a.html *** *Press Conferences **https://wiseye.org/2018/06/04/news-conference-wisconsin-public-education-network-partners-call-for-action/ *Serving on Panels **Panel a
Wisconsin Public Education Network
Annual Summer Summit (2018) with Wisconsin State Rep. Joel Kitchens, moderated by Dr
Julie Mead
*
https://wiseye.org/2018/08/01/-public-education-network-4th-annual-summit-part-1-4/
**Debate on School Choice in Wisconsin- Dr. Julie Underwood v
Scott Jensen of the American Federation of Children
moderated b
Alan Borsuk
(2016)
Video of Panel- https://wiseye.org/2016/11/30/lessons-from-a-quarter-century-of-school-vouchers-one-conversation-two-points-of-view/
***News Coverage of the Panel ****https://www.wuwm.com/post/milwaukee-educators-debate-vouchers-school-choice-reappears-national-stage#stream/0 ****https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/education/2016/11/30/94629846/ ****https://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2016/12/01/two-views-one-conversation-light-shed-on-school-vouchers-at-law-school-program/ ****https://www.marquette.edu/news-center/2016/jensen-underwood-to-discuss-school-vouchers-in-conversation-at-marquette-law-school.php ****https://www.wiscnews.com/youtube_6cbd6735-5c65-5ee3-850a-7bbc1c8bbcd2.html *Serving on the Blue Ribbon Commission- Footage courtesy o
Wisconsin Eye
**https://wiseye.org/2018/06/04/blue-ribbon-commission-on-school-funding-public-hearing-4/ **https://wiseye.org/2018/06/04/news-conference-wisconsin-public-education-network-partners-call-for-action/ **https://wiseye.org/2018/05/21/blue-ribbon-commission-on-school-funding-public-hearing-3/ **https://wiseye.org/2018/05/07/blue-ribbon-commission-on-school-funding-public-hearing-2/ **https://wiseye.org/2018/04/23/blue-ribbon-commission-on-school-funding-public-hearing/ **https://wiseye.org/2018/04/09/blue-ribbon-commission-public-hearing/ **https://wiseye.org/2018/03/26/blue-ribbon-commission-on-school-funding/ **https://wiseye.org/2018/02/02/blue-ribbon-commission-on-school-funding-part-1-2/ **https://wiseye.org/2018/02/02/blue-ribbon-commission-on-school-funding-part-2-2/ **https://wiseye.org/2017/12/14/blue-ribbon-commission-on-school-funding-part-1/ **https://wiseye.org/2017/12/14/blue-ribbon-commission-on-school-funding-part-2/ **https://wiseye.org/2018/12/19/blue-ribbon-commission-on-school-funding-informational-hearing/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Underwood, Julie K. Year of birth missing (living people) University of Florida alumni Living people Indiana University Maurer School of Law alumni DePauw University alumni Miami University faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Education school deans Women deans (academic)