Meet the College of Education’s 2026 Outstanding Student Medallion Recipients

Faculty members of the College of Education nominate students for the Outstanding Student Medal based on three primary criteria: demonstrating exceptional scholarship within their departments and programs; offering significant time and service to the College, campus, or community; and showing strong potential as future leaders in the field of education.

Introducing the 2026 Outstanding Student Medal winners:

Doctoral Degree: Marisol Jimenez, Ph.D. EPOL

Marisol Jimenez is this year’s doctoral degree Outstanding Student Medal recipient. She successfully defended her dissertation, “Navigating Neoliberalism: Latinx Families and the Politics of School Choice in Chicago,” in fall 2025. Jimenez is a three-time graduate of Education at Illinois. She also earned a master’s degree from the Department of Education Policy, Organization & Leadership in 2021 and a bachelor’s degree in Learning and Education Studies in 2019.

As a first-generation college student, Jimenez explains that she took time to adapt to the college environment but she eventually found her home here. “Places like La Casa and the College of Education became the place where I developed my academic confidence,” she says. “It is also where I made my calling to help others do the same.”

She gravitated toward research early on. Reflecting on her undergraduate experiences, Jimenez shares, “As an undergraduate McNair Scholar, I began studying the expansion of charter schools in Chicago and examined the shifting landscape of public education,” she says. “Those early research experiences shaped my intellectual foundation and sparked questions that continue to guide my work today, laying the groundwork for a sustained scholarly agenda that examines how education policy distributes opportunity and how communities respond to structural inequities.”

Building upon this foundation, she continues to examine the racialized consequences of school choice and neoliberal reform, centering Latinx families and educators. Drawing on pláticas (talks or conversations) with mother-daughter dyads, her dissertation investigates how families interpret and navigate high-stakes educational decision-making.

Mentorship is key for Jimenez. “As a first-generation student who benefited deeply from mentorship, I have made it my mission to support other first-generation and historically marginalized students.” She founded Academic Amigas, a digital mentorship program reaching over 10,000 students nationwide.

She guides others through service with the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program. Additionally, she is involved with the AERA Sociology of Education SIG, The Latina Sweat Project, and the Black and Latina Women Summit at Illinois.

Her nominator, Assistant Professor Gabriel Rodriguez, says, “Across her research, teaching, and service, Marisol is a proven equity and justice-oriented leader. Marisol’s leadership commitments are shaped by her identities and experiences as a proud first-generation Latina college student and daughter of immigrants. Marisol is steadfast in being a leader that lifts as she climbs, that strives for inclusive practices premised and works to affirm and incorporate the bodies of knowledge of minoritized communities.”

"To be nominated for [this award] in the College that has been my academic home is deeply meaningful," says Jimenez. "My journey here began with learning how to navigate unfamiliar spaces. It continues with ensuring that others do not have to navigate them alone."

Master’s Degree: Ruoqian Wu, Ed.M. EPSY

Ruoqian Wu is this year’s 2026 master’s degree Outstanding Student Medal recipient, graduating with his master’s degree in Quantitative and Qualitative Methodology, Measurement, and Evaluation (QUERIES) in the Department of Educational Psychology.

He says his academic journey began with one goal: “to help improve educational opportunities for others.”

Wu graduated from Fujian National University in Fuzhou, China, with a degree in Preschool Education. There, he was intrigued by research into child development and teacher well-being. However, as he researched more, he discovered that many of his questions could not be answered because measurement tools and methods were inadequate.

“This realization transformed my academic path,” Wu says. “I became deeply motivated to pursue quantitative methodology and educational measurement, with the goal of developing better tools to understand human development and ultimately contribute to more equitable and effective educational systems.”

Since starting his graduate program, Ruoqian has focused on evaluating factor retention methods in large-scale factor analysis models. He used the University of Illinois high-performance computing cluster to solve a key issue in measurement: determining the correct number of latent factors underlying observed behaviors.

“This research has resulted in a manuscript currently under review with the journal Educational and Psychological Measurement and multiple presentations at leading international conferences,” he says.

Wu values teaching as much as research. He was a teaching assistant for a graduate-level regression analysis course and enjoys supporting students as they grasp complex concepts.

As for his next steps, Wu says, "My long-term goal is to pursue an academic career in quantitative psychology and educational measurement. I aim to develop new measurement methods capable of capturing complex human behaviors, especially in challenging contexts like intensive longitudinal data and large-scale educational assessments." He has been admitted into the Department of Educational Psychology’s  Ph.D. program.

“Ruoqian is unquestionably among the strongest master’s students in our program, particularly in terms of research accomplishments,” says Associate Professor Yan Xia, who nominated Wu. “His productivity and research maturity exceed typical expectations at the master’s level.”

"Being nominated for the Outstanding Student Medal is a tremendous honor. It represents not only recognition of my past work but also encouragement to continue contributing to the field of educational measurement,” says Wu. “I am deeply grateful for the mentorship, training, and collaborative environment provided by the College of Education. These experiences have shaped my identity as a scholar, educator, and future academic leader."

Bachelor’s Degree: Adele Miller, SPED

Adele Miller, this year’s bachelor's degree Outstanding Student Medal recipient, graduates this May with a degree in Special Education, a minor in Disability Studies, and a micro-credential in Trauma-Informed Education.

Adele has earned several accolades during her time on campus. This includes being named a James Scholar, Chancellor’s Scholar/Campus Honors, and inclusion in the Stamps Scholars Program—the most selective scholarship at Illinois.

"As a Stamps Scholar, Adele engaged in intensive expeditions that helped develop leadership and teamwork skills," says her nominator, Clinical Assistant Professor Laurie Andrews. "The Stamps Scholarship’s emphasis on civic engagement is the perfect match for Adele’s drive to make a positive difference in communities near and far."

Miller has also worked with several organizations during her time at the university, driven by her passion for disability advocacy. In these roles, she led Illini Service Dogs and handled service dogs, contributing to the training of mobility service dogs and their placement alongside people with physical disabilities at no charge. She contributed to the Penguin Project, a theatre company for people with disabilities, supported Community Choices, a nonprofit that promotes independence and connection for adults with disabilities, and served on the College of Education Disabled Student Accessibility & Inclusion Task Force.

Miller also conducted research as a Community Academic Scholar and Public Engagement Fellow with the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute. In this role, she developed an accessibility evaluation and collaborated with software developers to test a web app assessing local business accessibility.

“Collectively, my experiences demonstrate how I lead collaboratively, inspire the participation of others, and transform ideas into action,” Miller says. “My long-term goal is to lead the development of more accessible, trauma-informed practices and services that are driven by individuals’ experiences in education and community-based settings. I want to build connections with others, amplify the voices of marginalized people, and enact change that comes from the community that it will impact.

“The connections I have formed and continue to form have shaped me into the special educator and disability advocate that I am today,” she says.