About Director

Helen C. Sobehart, D.A.

Director, Leadership Institute
School of Education
Duquesne University
730 Fisher Hall
Pittsburgh, PA 15282
Office Phone: 412.396.4525
Office Fax: 412-396-1393
Email: sobehart@duq.edu

Dr. Helen C. Sobehart has been an educator since 1969. She is currently Director of the Duquesne University School of Education Leadership Institute and The Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program for Educational Leaders. She was formerly Associate Director, Laboratory for Student Success, Temple University. Prior to that, she was in the superintendency at Fox Chapel Area School District. She was the only superintendent in that district to have a scholarship created in her name, a scholarship for students committed to a career in education and community service. In addition to being a Superintendent, Helen has been a teacher and administrator for the State Resource System, and a Special Education Director. She managed a $49 million district budget and has successfully written over $1.5 million in grant proposals in recent years.

Helen was appointed by Governor Casey to the State of Pennsylvania Advisory Panel for Special Education in 1990, re-appointed in 1994, and was a member of the United States Department of Education Joint Committee on Integration of Categorical Programs into the Regular Education System. She was invited by former Congressman, now Senator, Rick Santorum to be part of his evaluation panel in Excellence in Education at the Eighteenth Congressional District Schools of Excellence recognition program, and was competitively selected by the Allegheny County Chamber of Commerce to be a member of Leadership Pittsburgh, eventually becoming a member of Leadership Pittsburgh's Board of Directors. In 1992, she was recognized by the State Senate of Pennsylvania for "her immeasurable contribution to educational progress" in the state. She has provided statewide professional leadership on such issues as school equity, including a appointment as co-president of the Association of School Districts in Support of Excellence and Equity (ASDEE), and served as a statewide Distinguished Educator in Delaware. Helen has served on the Boards of Directors of the Bradley Center for Children and Youth; the Teacher Excellence Program; and the Homeless Children and Family Emergency Fund. Most recently, Helen was awarded the Gold Star Award for Special Achievement in the Education and Mentoring of School Leaders by the Pittsburgh Council on Public Education. Helen was also appointed to the Board of the Pennsylvania Leadership Development Center. and to the Education Policy & Issues Center Board of Directors. Some of Helen's affiliations include: American Association of School Administrators; Pennsylvania School Boards Association; American Education Research Association; was a member of the National Editorial Board for CASE Journals; Phi Delta Kappa; and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. She is a certified facilitator for AASA/NASSP Superintendent Leadership Develop Program, and was a Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce Athena Award nominee.

Some of her more recent state, national, and international presentations include: International Conference on University Teaching, Sweden; Conference on Women's Leadership Issues at the University of Augsberg, Germany; American Association of School Administrators; American Association for the Advancement of Science; National Rural/Small Schools Association; American Education Research Association; International Leadership Conference, Oxford University.

She has published nationally, including editing PASA's Women's Caucus Annual Spring Conference monograph and AASA's monograph on Women in Educational Administration. Internationally, she is guest editor of the millenium edition of the annual Leadership Monograph published at St. Peter's College, Oxford University, United Kingdom.

Helen obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology/Sociology from Slippery Rock University, a Masters of Science degree in Special Education from Duquesne University and a Doctor of Arts degree from Carnegie-Mellon University. She holds certifications as teacher, principal, special education supervisor and superintendent.

Helen's personal interests include family, church Eucharistic minister and lector, walking and classical music. Her husband, Joe, works in hospital financial management. Helen has two grown sons, a daughter-in-law, and a grandson.