Dr. Nicole Simon is a public education researcher and practitioner.  For two decades, her work has focused broadly on urban public schools and universities, the education workforce, and the experiences of first-generation college students before, during and after college.  Before joining Harvard College in 2022, Dr. Simon worked at the City University of New York (CUNY) and at the NYC Department of Education – the two largest urban public school systems in the United States.  At CUNY, Dr. Simon served as a University Director of Academic Affairs in the Office of K-16 Initiatives and as the Director of Strategic Initiatives for CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice.  

Dr. Simon earned her B.S. in Human Development and her M.S. in Design and Environmental Analysis from Cornell University.  She earned her M.Ed. and doctorate in Culture, Communities and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a doctoral student, she served as a Harvard Presidential Public Service Fellow at the Boston Public Schools and as a Radcliffe/Rappaport Policy Fellow at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.  

Dr. Simon is a Lecturer in Social Studies and in Education at Harvard and a research affiliate with the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers.  She is also the Resident Dean of Quincy House (The People’s House!) and an Assistant Dean at Harvard College.
 

2023-24 Courses
Social Studies 68ra: Radical Actors: The Role of Public Education in American Social Change (Fall)