David Sapp
David Alan Sapp, Ph.D., Professor of Educational Leadership, is the Dean of Graduate Education at Loyola Marymount University, where he concurrently serves as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Chief of Staff for the Executive Vice President and Provost. Dr. Sapp joined LMU in 2015 following fourteen years at Fairfield University in Connecticut, where he served as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of English in the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Sapp earned his Ph.D. in rhetoric from the English Department at New Mexico State University and studied in the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University. Dr. Sapp is a member of The Phi Beta Kappa Society. In 2016, he received a Fulbright grant to support his research at the Universidad del Norte in the República de Colombia. Dr. Sapp was also recently appointed to the State Superintendent’s Task Force on College Affordability for the California Department of Education.
As a specialist in technical writing with expertise in civic/community engagement and social justice, organizational communication, and educational program development, Dr. Sapp has conducted fieldwork along the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as in Brazil, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Spain, along with archival research in Uruguay. This work explores the ongoing struggles of disenfranchised populations, including in civic development projects and environmental activism. His recent research includes a book on teaching English language learners published by Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, a special issue of the Journal of Rhetoric, Professional Communication, and Globalization that he co-edited on human rights, and a co-authored chapter in The International Handbook of Service-Learning for Social Justice, published by Wiley.
Dr. Sapp also recently served on collaborative research projects on the topics of teacher credibility, student motivation, conflict resolution, and academic leadership that have been published in the International Journal of Communication, Dean & Provost, Communication Education, Academic Leader, Journal of Communication Studies, and The Department Chair. In 2009, he co-edited a book on feminist pedagogy published by Johns Hopkins University Press, and in 2010, Dr. Sapp won a top research award from the Association for Business Communication for an article on the assessment of student internship experiences. In 2016, he was recognized as a seminal scholar in the field of technical communication.
Dr. Sapp collaborates with colleagues across campus on a variety of matters vital to the success of undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education at LMU (e.g., accreditation, new program development, support services, fundraising). In his multiple roles, he provides oversight for campus units leading undergraduate education (including the University Honors Program, the core curriculum, academic honesty), assessment and accreditation, institutional research, data governance, and continuing education. Dr. Sapp serves as the primary liaison between LMU’s academic affairs division and the Board of Trustees Academic Affairs committee.
Contact
David Alan Sapp, Ph.D.
Dean of Graduate Education
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
Professor of Educational Leadership
Provost Office
1 LMU Drive, Suite 4820
Los Angeles, CA 90045-2659
310.338.1840 [fax]