Professor Sigal Ben-Porath elected to prestigious National Academy of Education

January 21, 2025
Sigal Ben-Porath

Penn GSE Professor Sigal Ben-Porath has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Education (NAEd). The organization, founded in 1965, is an honorific society of U.S. members and international associates elected based on outstanding education-related scholarship. NAEd’s mission is to advance high-quality education research and its use in policy formulation and practice.

“Professor Ben-Porath’s election to the National Academy of Education is a testament to her groundbreaking scholarship and unwavering dedication to fostering democratic values in education,” said Katharine O. Strunk, Dean and George and Diane Weiss Professor of Education. “Not only is Sigal a brilliant scholar, and well-deserving of this honor, but she is a true citizen of the Academy, always willing to share her ideas and expertise with institutions working to become more inclusive and equitable learning environments. We are absolutely thrilled to see Sigal and her contributions recognized at the highest level of the field.”

Ben-Porath is the MRMJJ Presidential Professor of Education at Penn GSE and has been a faculty member since 2004. The faculty director of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program, Ben-Porath holds secondary appointments in the Department of Philosophy and the Department of Political Science in the School of Arts & Sciences. A world-renowned scholar of democratic theory and practice — especially the role of schools and colleges as democratic institutions and hubs of free speech and civil discourse — her scholarship has focused on how schools and universities can help sustain and advance democracy. Ben-Porath’s insights on free speech and education have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and NPR, among others, making her a vital voice in national conversations about educational policy and civic engagement.

Ben-Porath joins an esteemed group of Penn GSE scholars who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to advancing educational research and practice and been elected to the Academy. This group includes professors Vivian Gadsden, Howard Stevenson, Nancy Hornberger, and Laura Perna; professors emeriti John Fantuzzo and Diana Slaughter-Kotzin; former deans Pam Grossman and Andy Porter; and Penn President Emerita Amy Gutmann, a secondary faculty member of Penn GSE.