David Fuentes, PhD

Associate Dean
College of Education
William Paterson University

David A. Fuentes, PhD is Associate Dean in the College of Education at William Paterson University where he began his career in higher education as an assistant professor of teacher education in 2012.  As an education scholar, researcher, and leader Dr. Fuentes has had a profound impact in the lives of the students, faculty, and campus community where he serves.  Through his scholarship, program development and several special projects that he has led, Dr. Fuentes has worked to create more equitable outcomes for students and faculty alike. 

He earned his PhD in Curriculum in Curriculum and Instruction from the Pennsylvania State University and an M.Ed. in Bilingual and Multicultural Education and B.A. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.  He was born and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts.  The youngest of seven children and born into a family of educators, he continues a legacy in pursuit of equity in public education that was began by parents, Luis and Dora Fuentes.  His father was the first Puerto Rican Superintendent in the Lower East Side of Manhattan (1968-1973) having implemented some of first bilingual programs in the U.S.  His mother served as principal in Holyoke, MA, a community represented by almost 50 percent Latinos.