Kevin Sutherland, Ph.D., a professor in the VCU School of Education, has been named a Commonwealth Professor, one of the most distinguished titles Virginia Commonwealth University awards its faculty.

The appointment recognizes a career built around a question every school faces: how do you make classrooms better places for children and youth whose challenging behaviors make teaching them more difficult?

“I was surprised and elated,” Sutherland said. “It was extra special, as I received the email while my daughter was visiting, so I was able to share the excitement with her and my wife.”

Research that changes classrooms

Sutherland, along with his colleague Maureen Conroy of the University of Florida, developed BEST in CLASS, an evidence-based program that gives teachers practical strategies for supporting students with problem behaviors. The results reach everyone in the room. Teachers who take part report feeling more effective and less emotionally exhausted. Their relationships with students who have challenging behaviors improve over time, and those students become more engaged, with less problem behavior.

“So hopefully, teachers, schools, children, and their families benefit from our work.”

His newest work tackles one of the hardest problems in education research: scale. With colleagues, Sutherland studies how to bring evidence-based programs like BEST in CLASS to more schools and community settings, and how to keep them working once implementation support is no longer in place.

Joining the ranks of his mentors

For Sutherland, the honor reflects the people he has worked alongside. “It’s a culmination of years of work and really is a reflection of all the colleagues I’ve worked with and learned from,” he said.

It also carries a personal meaning. Several of his mentors held the same title, including Al Farrell in the Department of Psychology and Leila Christenbury in the School of Education. “To join their ranks is humbling,” he said.

Rooted in rural Appalachia

Sutherland’s approach began long before his research career. He grew up in rural Appalachia, where both of his parents were teachers deeply involved in their community.

“My approach to supporting children and youth who might be struggling comes directly from what they modeled for me growing up.”

Advice for the next generation

Asked what he would tell students and early-career researchers hoping to follow a similar path, Sutherland kept it simple: “Find your people. I’m really good at identifying kind, smart people to work with.”

His appointment reflects the School of Education’s commitment to research that moves the needle, work that begins with a classroom challenge and ends with better outcomes for students, teachers, and families.