2026 College of Education Annual Awards

We also recognize the College’s faculty and students who have won the 2026 College Research Awards, as well as our Outstanding Student Medallion winners at the Spring Faculty Meeting. Additionally, College of Education faculty and staff scheduled to retire this academic year were honored for their service. Please visit the  College of Education on Social Media for photos and to congratulate our awardees. Congratulations to all on their accomplishments!

Distinguished Staff Awards

• Robin Craig: Council on Teacher Education
  
• Kimberly Darnell: Bureau of Educational Research
• Julie Kellogg: Educational Psychology

Faculty Instruction Awards

Spitze-Mather Faculty Award for Excellence

• Michele Schutz, Special Education

Outstanding Faculty Award for Public Engagement

• Erica Mason, Special Education

David Zola Distinguished Teaching Career Award

• Lynn Burdick, Curriculum & Instruction

Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award

• Jessica Hardy, Special Education

Excellence in Online Teaching Award

• Samantha Lindgren, Education Policy, Organization & Leadership
  

Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award

• Mari Altshuler, Curriculum & Instruction
  

Outstanding Teaching Award for Teaching Assistants

• Katie Davenport, Curriculum & Instruction
• Martha Perez-Mugg, Education Policy, Organization & Leadership

Bureau of Educational Research Awards

Dissertation Awards

• Qianhui Liu, Curriculum & Instruction, advised by Luc Paquette
• Tiffany Reyes Denis, Educational Psychology, advised by Michelle Perry
  
• Baffour Nkrumah-Ababio, Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, advised by Samantha Lindgren
  
• Maria Serrano Abreu, Educational Psychology, advised by Cherie Avent & Rodney Hopson
  
• Yoon-Jeong Won, Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, advised by Eunjung Oh
  
• Anne Allegretti, Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, advised by Rachel Roegman
  
• Miche’le Johnson, Curriculum & Instruction, advised by Arlette Willis
  
• Lucie Cyliax, Curriculum & Instruction, advised by Stephanie Smith
  
• Meng Liu, Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, advised by Jessica Li
  
• Purity Wawire, Curriculum & Instruction, advised by Giselle Martinez Negrette

Hardie Faculty Fellow Awards

Hardie Faculty Fellow

• Kaylin Ratner, Educational Psychology

Hardie Distinguished Scholar Awards

• Stephanie Toliver, Curriculum & Instruction
• Chris Napolitano, Educational Psychology

Research Seed Grants

• Sowing Seeds for Justice-oriented Computing Education in Illinois (JoCEIL)
  • Gayithri Jayathirtha, C&I; Sarah Phelps, LTC; & Gail Chapman, ECS
• Understanding the Primary Service Provider Model Across the United States: A Community Engaged Focus Group Study
  • Crystal Williams, SPED & Emily Harrington, SPED
• Expectation-Making and Educational Equity for Emergent Multilinguals with Disabilities: An Exploratory Study
  • Jisun Oh, SPED & Giselle Martinez, C&I
• Co-Designing Inclusive Computational Thinking Modules for Preschoolers with Disabilities
  • Jessica Hardy, SPED & Hsiu-Wen Yahn, UNC
• From Community College to the Principal’s Office: Exploring the Impact of Community College on Educational Leadership, Equity, and Philosophy
  • Osly Flores, EPOL

Outstanding Student Medallions

• Adele Miller, Special Education, Bachelor's Program
• Ruoqian Wu, Educational Psychology, Master's Program
• Marisol Jimenez, Education Policy, Organization & Leadership, Doctoral Program
  

Dean's Medallion

• Denice Ward Hood: Teaching Professor Emerita, Education Policy, Organization & Leadership

2026 Faculty and Staff Retirements

• Kern Alexander: Excellence Professor, Education Policy, Organization & Leadership - 24 Years of Service

• Lynn Burdick: Director of Trauma-Informed Education, Curriculum & Instruction - 24 Years of Service

• Jinming Zhang: Professor, Educational Psychology - 17 Years of Service

• Cheryl Light Shriner: Teaching Assistant Professor, Special Education - 29 Years of Service