New dean for College of Education announced

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 25, 2025) — University of Kentucky Provost Robert S. DiPaola, M.D., has named Nick Pace, Ed.D., as the new dean of the College of Education, pending Board of Trustees approval.

Pace currently serves as the interim dean and a professor in the the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s (UNL) College of Education and Human Sciences (CEHS), a role he has held since first being named acting dean in October 2023.

As interim dean of CEHS at UNL, Pace helped grow the college’s undergraduate and graduate enrollment for the first time in eight years. He restructured the college’s communication efforts, centering them on telling its community’s stories that connected with students and the wider university.

His listening tour of CEHS departments, centers and programs helped him establish a baseline level of the needs and priorities of the college. Based on this listening tour, Pace created a dashboard for progress on meeting those needs and priorities, helping address faculty, staff and student needs to support success.

Pace also worked to enhance the college’s visibility and stature, amplifying faculty, student and staff voices in leadership and developing new roles to assist in faculty advancement and growth, including a new interim associate dean to support faculty affairs and new leads for faculty success as well as scholarship and creative activity.

“I am impressed by Dr. Pace’s prioritization of students, faculty and staff in his leadership style, and I know that he will continue to amplify the research and work of our College of Education,” DiPaola said. “It is vital for the college to continue growing to meet the needs of Kentucky’s educational environment, and Dr. Pace’s experience will ensure that the college continues to not only train future educators and teachers but also prepare the future leaders of our communities.”

As a researcher, Pace’s work focuses primarily on principalship, but his other scholarly interests include school administrator wellness and how school leaders seek to grow and improve their leadership practice. He has also taught courses related to education leadership and has extensive experience with curriculum development and enhancement.

Prior to being named acting dean of CEHS, Pace was professor and department chair in the Department of Educational Administration at UNL, roles he held since 2017.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Northern Iowa (UNI), his master’s degree in educational leadership from Drake University and his doctorate in educational leadership from UNI.

Pace also played basketball at UNI as a student-athlete and later coached at the high school and college levels.

“Those experiences inform my approach to leadership, community and being part of something larger than any one person,” Pace said. “In addition to the UK College of Education’s impactful teaching and research to prepare P-20 educators, its leading work in health, fitness and sport combined with UK’s prominence in the field are energizing.”

After graduating with his bachelor’s degree, Pace initially worked as a social worker before becoming a social studies teacher in Iowa. He eventually served as the principal of North Tama County Junior-Senior High School in Traer, Iowa.

He later joined UNI an instructor and student teaching coordinator in 2000, eventually being named professor and department head of the Department of Educational Leadership and Postsecondary Education in 2015.

“Education and its potential to transform lives and communities mean a great deal to me,” Pace said. “The UK College of Education is an exciting place to be as its community combines the power of research innovations with the practice of teaching and learning, and I am thrilled and honored to help guide its trajectory as an education leader in Kentucky and beyond.”

Pace will begin his role as dean of the UK College of Education on July 1.