Professional Development Academies in Education

Professional Development Programs in Information Studies

UCLA’s School of Education & Information Studies is home to two departments. Each is a leader in their field, helping to pioneer what's next in the Education and Information worlds.

UCLA Ed&IS faculty are at the forefront of their fields, addressing issues of equality, access and social justice in the fields of education and information. Their scholarship has an international reputation for excellence and commitment to addressing the most critical issues facing our society.

An ecosystem of K-12 teaching schools where UCLA partners to develop, study, share, and advance innovative best practices.

The work at UCLA Ed&IS is guided by the principles of individual responsibility and social justice, an ethic of caring, and commitment to the communities we serve. Learn more about our mission and values, our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in our faculty and students, our history and more.

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are defining features of UCLA Ed&IS and we embrace them as a source of strength.

Department of Education 2023 Information Sessions

Department of Information Studies Programs

Department of Information Studies 2023 Information Sessions

Learn more about the undergraduate and graduate academic programs we offer, when program information sessions are being offered and how to apply.

Planned Giving

Legacy gifts have resulted in some of the School’s most generous and far-reaching gifts. Your planned gift will ensure academic excellence and access for generations to come. Your gift can also provide financial and tax benefits for you, your heirs, and others you care about.

Many individuals who could not otherwise make a major gift find they are able to do so with a carefully planned gift, thereby fulfilling their philanthropic goals for the School.

Whatever your age, you can make a substantial contribution to UCLA Ed&IS through a planned gift and satisfy your personal tax and long-term financial goals at the same time.

Learn More: UCLA has extensive planned giving resources, dedicated staff, and in-house attorneys available to answer your questions, on a confidential basis and without charge or obligation. To learn more you are welcome to contact the UCLA Ed&IS External Relations Office at (310) 206-0375 or support@seis.ucla.edu.

Bequests and Planned Gifts

Establishing support into the future

In 2015, the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies received the largest legacy gift in our history from the estate of Gordon Smith, a UCLA alumnus who was a longtime educator and small business owner. The bequest established the Gordon and Olga Smith Scholarship Fund to provide support for UCLA Education students. To date, the bequest has supported over 40 students who are pursuing graduate degrees in Education.

The Smiths’ generosity made possible the establishment of two scholarship programs for outstanding students pursuing credentials and degrees in Education. The Gordon and Olga Smith Teacher Education Scholars Program will provide scholarship funding to outstanding students in the UCLA Teacher Education Program. In addition, the Gordon and Olga Smith Dean’s Scholars Program will provide new or continuing scholarship funding to recruit the best and brightest students nationally to UCLA to pursue advanced degrees in Education.

“This transformational gift from Gordon and Olga Smith will in perpetuity support UCLA Ed & IS students who are pursuing their studies in education,” said then Dean Marcelo Suárez-Orozco. “The gift dawns a new era of excellence in education at UCLA. The Gordon and Olga Smith Scholarship Fund will serve as a lasting tribute to the extraordinary lives of Gordon and Olga Smith and their dedicated work as public school teachers, while enabling UCLA to recruit the next generation of outstanding Education students.”

The Smiths’ professional lives echoed their mutual passions of education, Hispanic cultures, and travel. Gordon Smith, who earned his general subject secondary teaching credential at UCLA in 1964, taught Spanish and social studies in Alaska, and in the Burbank Unified School District. Olga Smith taught Spanish in Burbank Unified School District as well.

The Smiths, who were both fluent Spanish speakers, traveled extensively throughout Europe, South America, Central America, and the South Pacific. While living in Alaska in the 1970s, where Gordon began his teaching career at West Anchorage High School, the couple founded their own travel agency. Upon returning to California and making their home in Sherman Oaks in 1974, Gordon worked for Western Airlines while still teaching in Burbank Unified School District.

The Smiths, who had no children, were known for their kindness, industry, and appreciation of people and cultures.

“They were the perfect example of lives well lived,” wrote Hilary Barry, executor for the Gordon Smith estate. “They were a wonderful couple that worked as a team and were always exploring new opportunities. They did what they loved, and it showed.”

Gordon and Olga Smith Scholarship Fund

Ken Karmiole ’71 is a graduate of Library Science and the owner of Kenneth Karmiole Bookseller in Santa Monica and internationally known in the rare book world. “I established the Karmiole Fellowship because the Information Studies program provides a comprehensive education that allows students to obtain an extensive understanding of a specialized field, such as rare book librarianship, which is my personal area of interest. Fellowship funding is essential to attracting and retaining the best students and I am proud to help play a role in that process.”

Karmiole Fellowship

Rose Gilbert ’40 taught full-time since 1956. In 2007, at age 90 she was the oldest full-time teacher in LAUSD and perhaps the nation. Her passion for teaching has changed the lives of thousands of students, creating a lasting love of literature and learning for almost 50 years. In 2007, Rose created another lasting legacy by establishing the Rose Gilbert Teacher Education Endowed Fellowship. Thanks to Rose’s generous spirit of giving, each year a graduate student in UCLA’s Teacher Education Program will be selected as the Rose Gilbert Fellow and will receive an award to help pay for the costs of his/her teacher preparation and Master’s degree program here at UCLA.

Rose Gilbert Teacher Education Endowed Fellowship

Leaving A Lasting Legacy

Legacy gifts have resulted in some of the School’s most generous and far-reaching gifts.