Leland McGee

Dr. Leland S. McGee, J.D., M.S.Ed., Ed.D. is an educationist who focuses on advancing education equity through the translation of research to practice and interdisciplinary collaboration. His focus on learner-centered, community-engaged education envisions an education continuum that produces competent civic citizens. In keeping with that vision, he created a collaboration of writing resources across the University of Pennsylvania’s campus to initiate the Writing Commons, designed to support the culture and practice of academic writing for graduate students through programing and supportive hybrid spaces for nurturing students as writers.

His professional journey has spanned law, public service, and higher education. After graduating from Rutgers Law School–Newark, he served in a variety of legal and government roles, including New Jersey Deputy Attorney General, Deputy Ratepayer Advocate, Legal Specialist in the NJ Division on Civil Rights, Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of East Orange, Executive Director of the East Orange Water Commission, and as an Administrative Law Judge for the State of New Jersey. Throughout his legal career, he has remained committed to mentorship, public service, and expanding opportunities for students and emerging professionals.
In recent years, he transitioned to higher education and currently serve as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Higher Education section of the Policy, Organizations, Leadership and Systems Division at Penn Graduate School of Education. His work focuses on advancing educational equity through learner-centered, community-engaged approaches that connect research, policy, and practice. He also taught Ethics and Administrative Law at Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration and in the Kean University Public Administration Department.

In his most recent project, Dr. McGee was a Principal Investigator for the Indigenous Consciousness Education Research Methods (ICER) project at Anant National University in Ahmedabad, India. This project was an international initiative examining how communities understand and sustain their local knowledge systems and how those systems can inform education, technology, and civic engagement. Embracing local knowledge systems is fundamental to learner-centered education ecosystems. This work reflects a broader commitment to creating educational environments that recognize the strengths, experiences, and aspirations students bring 
with them.