Professional Biography

Zachary Herrmann is the Executive Director of the Center for Professional Learning. In this role, he leads the school’s strategy to design and deliver professional learning opportunities for learners across the globe. Dr. Herrmann also serves as the director of the Strategic Leadership in Education Certificate Program, and the co-director of the Project-Based Learning Certificate Program. Dr. Herrmann leads professional learning focused on teacher and leader development, team effectiveness, negotiation, and creative problem solving. Dr. Herrmann is a Faculty Fellow with the Penn Environmental Innovations Initiative, chairs the Penn GSE Committee on Professional Learning, and serves on the Penn GSE Senior Leadership Team.

Dr. Herrmann taught high school mathematics for several years, during which time he developed a collaborative professional development network of schools dedicated to improving teaching and learning with a focus on complex tasks, collaborative learning, and equity.

Dr. Herrmann also serves as a member of the professional faculty at Penn GSE, where he teaches within several of the school’s master’s and doctoral programs. The new courses he has designed and teaches at Penn GSE are Collaboration & Conflict, which engages students in an interdisciplinary exploration of how people work together to solve complex problems, and Teaching and Learning in Student-Centered Classrooms, which explores student-centered approaches to teaching and learning. Dr. Herrmann also teaches the popular elective, Negotiation, within the M.B.A. program at The Wharton School.

Selected Publications