At their marquee event this spring, the American Educational Research Association will honor numerous Teachers College faculty and alumni for their contributions to the field. Find details below.
This is a developing story. Know of a TC honoree not listed here? Please let us know by emailing views@tc.edu.
Join Us at AERA
Mingle with members of the TC community during our special AERA reception on April 13. Learn more here.
Faculty
Sonya Douglass, Professor of Education Leadership, was elected vice president-elect of the Educational Policy and Politics division and will join AERA’s 2025–2026 Council, following the 2025 Annual Meeting. Douglass will serve for three years.
A recipient of AERA’s Scholars of Color Mid-Career Contribution Award in 2022, Douglass is known for her groundbreaking research and scholarship on racial inequality in K-12 schools. As the director of the Black Education Research Center, Douglass developed a Black Studies curriculum for NYC public schools, which is undergoing pilots as the first of its kind. Her research also includes timely findings on attitudes surrounding inclusive education and her co-authored book, The Politics of Education Policy in an Era of Inequality: Possibilities for Democratic Schooling.
Daniel S. Friedrich, Associate Professor of Curriculum, will receive the Critical Issues In Curriculum and Cultural Studies Mid-Career Award for his scholarship and service.
The honor follows Friedrich’s extensive work exploring the politics of schooling and teacher education, with an interdisciplinary, comparative and international approach and particular emphasis on Latin America. His recent work includes editing Pop Culture and Curriculum, Assemble! Exploring the Limits of Curricular Humanism through Pop Culture, as well as writings on multimodal education and scholarship across the internet, television, comics and more. In addition to his scholarship, Friedrich has served Teachers College and academia more broadly in numerous capacities, currently as a member of the Comparative and International Education Society’s Board of Directors.
Bettina Love, the William F. Russell Professor, will receive the Teaching and Teacher Education division’s Midcareer Award, which aims to recognize a significant program of research on critical issues in the field.
A leading voice on racial justice and education, Love is the author of the critically acclaimed Punished for Dreaming, published last fall, and We Want to Do More Than Survive. Her writings and lectures engage with a wide range of topics, including abolitionist teaching, queer youth, educational reparations and more. Love’s cultural impact includes serving on the task force that developed a $15 million guaranteed income pilot program in Georgia, one of the largest in the U.S., and recognition from The Kennedy Center for her impact.
Felicia Moore Mensah, Professor of Science & Education, will receive the Scholars of Color in Education Distinguished Career Contribution Award, which recognizes scholars who have made significant contributions to the understanding of issues that disproportionately affect minority populations within education research and development.
Mensah previously received AERA’s Early Career Award in 2012 and makes an impact through her work in critical race theory, racial literacy, and intersectionality in science teacher education. She aims to equip aspiring educators with the tools for anti-racist pedagogy, which stems from her extensive experience in teaching, mentoring, community outreach across schools and professional development. Mensah is the author of Like Words Falling onto the Page: Demystifying the Academic Writing and Publishing Process, which supports academic writers at all career stages. She is also the co-editor of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching (JRST), a Lead Editor of Cultural Studies of Science Education, and an associate editor of Learners of the African Diaspora Journal (LADJ).
Alumni
Ty McNamee (Ed.D. ’23, HPSE) will receive the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division J 2023-2024 Dissertation of the Year Award for “The Cultural Transition Into and Navigation of Higher Education for Rural Students from Poor and Working-class Backgrounds.”
McNamee, Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of Mississippi, conducts qualitative research on higher education access and equity for rural students through critical and constructivist paradigms, and sociological and anthropological disciplinary lenses. Inspired by his own background, McNamee often focuses his research on rural students, especially those who are poor and working-class and/or queer. During his time at Teachers College, McNamee helped establish the Rural Education and Healthcare Coalition (formally Rural Student Group) to both support rural students across Columbia as well as advance the application of scholarship in rural communities.
Published Monday, Apr 8, 2024