Brian Brent receives Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching Educational Leadership Brian Brent, the Earl B. Taylor Professor at the Warner School of Education and Human Development, is this year’s recipient of the William H. Riker University Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching. Brent received the award at the University of Rochester’s Doctoral Commencement Ceremony on Friday, May 21 in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, Eastman School of Music.The University-wide award is given annually to recognize a faculty member who has excelled in graduate instruction, particularly in the University’s doctoral programs. Brent is the second Warner School faculty member to receive this award. Joanne Larson, the Michael W. Scandling Professor of Education, received the award in 2018.Beginning his career as a certified public accountant, Brent developed an interest in school finance. He entered graduate school in education at Cornell University, earning a master’s degree and a PhD before joining the faculty of the Warner School.As a faculty member in the Educational Leadership Program, Brent teaches courses in administrative decision making and fiscal issues in schools and universities. In these courses, he provides students with the methodological skills needed to conduct thoughtful decision analyses to improve organizational policies and practices. Several years ago, he and his colleagues completely reimagined the EdD degree and developed one of the first accelerated cohort models of doctoral education for school administrators in the country. Central to their model was a revamped capstone project, creating a new degree requirement that school administrators would find useful to their career trajectories.Brent’s research interests include the equity of district- and school-level human and capital resource allocation policies and practices, equity in the ability of districts to raise local revenues, and the cost-effective use of education dollars.During his Warner tenure, Brent has served as the senior associate dean for graduate studies and as the acting dean. He currently serves as Warner’s faculty ombudsperson for the University Ombuds Office and the Ombuds Affiliate Network. He has received several awards for his scholarly work and teaching, including the University’s Curtis Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Jean Flanigan Award from the American Education Finance Association.