JOHN C. WEIDMAN, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR OF COMPARATIVE AND HIGHER EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE AND POLICY STUDIES
5910 WESLEY W. POSVAR HALL, PITTSBURGH, PA 15260, USA
Office Phone: (412) 648-1772; Office FAX: (412) 648-1784

In addition to my position in the School of Education, I am also faculty member in all of the area studies programs under the University Center for International Studies . I have served twice (1986-1993 and 2007-2010) as chairperson of the Department of Administrative and Policy Studies. From 2004 to 2007, I was director of the Institute for International Studies in Education. Other positions I have held include Visiting Research Fellow (Professor) in the Graduate School of International Development at Nagoya University in Japan (Fall Semester, 2011); Guest Professor at Beijing Normal University in China (2007-2012); the UNESCO Chair of Higher Education Research in the Institute of Research and Postgraduate Studies at Maseno University (then Maseno University College) in Kenya (Fall Semester, 1993); and Fulbright Scholar and Visiting Professor of the Sociology of Education on the Philosophical Faculty I of Augsburg University in Germany (Winter Semester, 1986-87).

Much of my research and consulting is focused on issues of comparative education reform, with an emphasis on policy and finance in nations undergoing the transition to a market economy. I began this work in the summer of 1993, when I completed a comprehensive study of the higher education system in Mongolia as a consultant on a project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Since 1997, I have worked on ADB technical assistance (TA) projects in Mongolia as Team Co-Leader and Higher Education Academic Program Management Expert (ADB TA No. 2719-MON: Institutional Strengthening of the Education Sector), as Higher Education Accreditation Expert (ADB Loan No. 1508-MON SF), and as General Education Expert on the 1999 Education Sector Study and Strategy for 2000-05 (ADB TA 3174-MON). The "sector wide" approach used in this sector study is described in the May, 2001, issue of Current Issues in Comparative Education.  This work was expanded to include five Central Asian countries (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) in 2002 during the course of an Asian Development Bank project on the management of education reform following the demise of the Soviet Union and resulted in a report entitled, Education Reforms in Countries in Transition: Policies and Processes.  In the summer of 2005, I worked as the Education Policy Specialist on an ADB project to design the Third Education Sector Development Project and a new 10-year Master Plan for the education system of Mongolia.

In Indonesia, I worked on the Decentralized Basic Education 2 Project (DBE2), funded by USAID (2006-2010). This involved collaborating with universities in Central and East Java, South Sulawesi, and Aceh to support capacity building in training of teachers and principals for decentralized basic education as well as professional development of both administrative and academic staff. Through this project, KPTIP (Consortium of Indonesian Universities-Pittsburgh) and an academic journal, Excellence in Higher Education,  were established.

In Africa, I worked (2000-2002) on the Tertiary Education Linkages Project (TELP) funded by the US Agency for International Development (AID) in South Africa, providing technical assistance in institutional planning and management to the University of the North and the University of Durban-Westville.  In 2003, I received funding from ALO/USAID for a linkage project with Moi University in Kenya focused on revitalizing institutional strategic planning capacity.

Domestically, I have a longstanding interest in the socialization of students at both the secondary and tertiary  levels of education. For a detailed description of my experience and publications, interested readers are invited to browse my Curriculum Vitae. Additional information, including the courses I teach, can be found on the School of Education website.