$25 million gift from Priscilla and Steven A. Kersten, JD ’80, to advance and strengthen K–12 education research and innovation
By Crown Family School
The gift will endow professorships, support next-generation scholars and school social workers, and bring together experts from across the University aimed at transforming schools and increasing K-12 student achievement
University of Chicago Trustee Steven A. Kersten, JD ’80, and his wife, Priscilla Kersten, a member of the Crown Family School Advisory Council, have made a $25 million commitment to the Urban Education Institute (UEI), housed at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. This gift significantly expands UEI’s focus by increasing innovative research, training next generation education leaders, and funding cross-disciplinary collaborations that strengthen schools and student outcomes. In recognition of this transformative gift, and the Institute’s reenergized focus, UChicago has renamed UEI as the Kersten Institute for Urban Education.
Since its founding, the Institute has focused on creating and sustaining reliably excellent urban schooling, through a combination of research, training, and the development of innovative tools for schools nationwide. This work includes the UChicago Consortium on School Research, which has informed significant and lasting improvements within the Chicago Public Schools and been replicated in urban centers across the nation.
The Kersten’s gift builds on the strong foundation of these efforts and will hinge on partnerships to improve schools and student academic and life outcomes. It will empower a renewed and expanded vision and mission that will attract top scholars, develop new educational leaders, and test interdisciplinary innovations or interventions that lead to greater achievement among children from prekindergarten to and through college.
The Kerstens have long believed that improving schools and ensuring access to high quality education for all students are among the most important issues facing society today. As long time UChicago supporters, Steven Kersten has served as a Trustee since 2006 and Priscilla Kersten, in addition to her service on the Crown Family School Advisory Council, is a member was the previous chair of the University of Chicago Women’s Board. They have previously given over $24 million to various University initiatives, including the Physical Sciences Division and the College’s Odyssey Scholarship Fund, in addition to generous prior support of the Urban Education Institute. Their new gift will expand their impact on K–12 education, not only by funding specific research initiatives, but by supporting faculty and student excellence so that the new Kersten Institute for Urban Education will become a destination for rigorous applied policy and practice research.
Underscoring the University’s commitment to groundbreaking educational research, three new endowed faculty chairs will be created at the Crown Family School. Funds from the Kersten gift will also be augmented by matching funds from a gift made by Amy Wallman, MBA ’75, and Trustee Richard Wallman, MBA ’74, who in 2023 initiated a challenge to spur fellow supporters to fund 30 new endowed chairs in schools and divisions across the University. The endowed faculty at the Crown Family School and the Kersten Institute for Urban Education will be part of a prestigious, University-wide Wallman Society of Fellows.
While securing exceptional faculty to conduct innovative educational research, the Kersten Institute for Urban Education will also seed future excellence in K–12 education scholarship by supporting doctoral students who will become the leaders of tomorrow. As the site of the country’s first PhD program in social work, established in 1920, the Crown Family School has long recognized the importance of preparing the next generation of scholars to advance knowledge, drive innovation, and address society’s most complex challenges through rigorous research and teaching.
This generous gift also affirms the critical connection between mental and behavioral health and student academic success, and addresses the current shortfall of trained school social workers who can support the whole student. Funds will provide scholarships that will invigorate a dedicated pipeline of rigorously trained and committed school social work professionals that can meet the mental health support needs of students so they may thrive.
A cross-disciplinary incubator fund will bring together scholars from across the University to support the development and testing of high-impact innovative or experimental strategies to strengthen schools and advance academic outcomes for students across all grade levels. The gift also provides research funds to test interventions at scale in schools and support the translation of effective programs into schools and communities.
“Transforming K-12 education requires a multifaceted and integrated approach that involves research, innovation, and experts committed to long-lasting improvement in schools and student achievement,” said Deborah Gorman-Smith, Crown Family School dean and Emily Klein Gidwitz Professor. “Through Steve and Priscilla’s vision and commitment, this gift will drive change that will make impact among children everywhere, who deserve a quality education to prepare them for healthy, productive lives and careers.”
Read more about the Kersten Institute for Urban Education here.