LAWRENCE BAINES, PROFESSOR, INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP AND ACADEMIC CURRICULUM
Baines' opinion piece "Point of View: Beauty in the Time of COVID-19" was published in the Oklahoman. Click here to read.
THERESA CULLEN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Cullen published an editorial in the Tulsa World on the new Oklahoma Standard in the time of COVID-19 crisis. Click here to read.
GARY DAVIS, INSTRUCTOR, AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE
Davis was honored by KFOR-TV as part of its Pay It 4Ward program. He was recognized for the work he does as a Signing Santa for the NW Oklahoma City Rotary Club. Click here to watch the story.
TIMOTHY FORD, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY STUDIES
Ford was invited to join the editorial board of the American Educational Research Association’s flagship journal, American Educational Research Journal. An invitation to join a journal’s editorial board is an indication of the respect and recognition that one’s scholarship, skills and contribution to the field have gained among their colleagues.
AERJ is the premier journal for scholarly articles that advance the empirical, theoretical and methodological understanding of education, schooling and learning. As a member of the editorial board, Ford will review incoming manuscripts as part of the peer-review process and assist journal editors by contributing expertise, advice and recommendations as needed. According to Ford, being a member of a journal editorial board is a good opportunity to contribute to the evolution, direction and governance of the publication.
SUSAN GREER, DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI OUTREACH
Greer was named a Distinguished Performance Award winner by the OU Staff Senate.
DOO HUN LIM, PROFESSOR, EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY STUDIES
Lim was named a recipient of an Alternative Textbook Grant by OU Libraries. Open Educational Resources are educational materials that are distributed at no cost and with legal permission for the public to freely use, share and build upon the content. OER give faculty members the power to customize content specifically for their courses as well as provide free or low-cost learning resources for their students.
Lim will combine and remix openly licensed resources to replace his textbook, Program Planning for Adult Learners, in his 2020-21 classes.
He specializes in adult and higher education and received his doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has been teaching numerous courses in multiple formats, including traditional classroom teaching, online and blended delivery. Lim’s research interests include performance improvement systems and technology, cross-cultural research on organizational development and performance issues, and learning and motivation within virtual learning environments.
EMILY REED, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
Reed was recognized as one of four Outstanding Young Professionals by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The award recognizes fundraisers under the age of 31 who display excellence in raising funds, inspiring donors, managing campaigns and dedication to the charitable sector.
MELANIE SCHNEIDER, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
Schneider was named the Waintroob/Myers Superior Performance Award winner by the OU Staff Senate.
HEIDI TORRES, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP AND ACADEMIC CURRICULUM
Torres is the guest on episode 145 of Visions of Education podcast. She speaks with hosts Dan Krutka and Michael Milton on her recent article in Theory & Research in Social Education, “They have their own way, and you should respect that: Investigating the outcomes of an elementary world cultures curriculum.”
Multicultural Book Day
On Jan. 28, the college celebrated Multicultural Children's Book Day. Students put together poster presentations on books for kids and faculty shared literature that covered a wide variety of topics and represented a wide variety of cultures.
Pi Day
The JRCoE mathematics education faculty put together their annual Pi Day celebration. The first floor was lined with Pi numbers out to the 100th digit and students were treated to Pi games and slices of pie from Interim Dean Stacy Reeder and Associate Professor Kate Raymond.
JAMIE BUCKMASTER, ED.D. 2019
Buckmaster was awarded first place for the Outstanding Dissertation award from the National Association for Bilingual Education. Buckmaster received her award in February at the NABE Awards Luncheon in Las Vegas. Buckmaster’s dissertation is “Holding Back English Learners: The Impact of Early Elementary Grade Retention on Language Development” and can be viewed at https://shareok.org/handle/11244/319605.
SKYE FRIED M.ED. STUDENT, SPECIAL EDUCATION
Fried co-authored a book chapter titled Developing Effective Individualized Education Program Plans. Fried is a middle school teacher in Norman Public Schools. The work will appear in the text of Brittany Hott, Ph.D. and Dr. Kathleen Randolph, Ph.D., Teaching Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, in the fall of 2020..
JESSICA HARRAMAN B.S. ED. 2014
Harraman was named 2020 Teacher of the Year for West Field Elementary School in Edmond.
CHRISTA HEGSTROM B.S. ED. 2014
Hegstrom was named Del City Elementary School Teacher of the Year and was a finalist for District Teacher of the Year for Mid-Del Public Schools.
MARSHA DEMPSEY HERRON PH.D. 2011
Herron was named the Chief of Equity and Student Support for Oklahoma City Public Schools. Herron will be responsible for health services, school programs, mental health and Native American Student Services.
KASHUAN HOPKINS, M.ED. STUDENT, LEARNING SCIENCES
Hopkins spent the spring 2020 semester as an intern on the technology team for the Oklahoma Schools Public Resource Center.
STORMY HOWELL B.S. ED. STUDENT, ENGLISH EDUCATION
Howell received the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English Geraldine Burns Award for Excellence in English Education.
STEVIE JOHNSON PH.D. 2019
Johnson is helping to organize Oklahoma hip-hop artists coming together to commemorate the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre with a multimedia hip-hop project, “Fire in Little Africa.” Johnson tapped local hip-hop artists and community leaders Steph Simon, Dialtone and St. Domonick, as well as entrepreneurs Trey Thaxton and Chris Davis and filmmaker Ben Lindsey, to form the executive team to bring the historic project to reality.
Johnson also is collaborating with Tulsa educators to develop a curriculum based on the content of the project, with the hopes that this history will be taught in schools, corporate offices, museums and other educational environments. Updates on the project will be published on FireInLittleAfrica.com and via the “Fire in Little Africa” podcast leading up to the February 2021 release date.
He is manager of education and diversity outreach for American Song Archives, which encompasses the Woody Guthrie Center and Bob Dylan Center. He is also a DJ, producer, educator and community organizer.
SAGE MAULDIN PH.D. STUDENT, ADULT AND HIGHER EDUCATION
Mauldin was recently nominated by Free Mom Hugs as a “Hero in the Community” for his LGBTQ advocacy in Oklahoma. Watch Here (you can see Sage's portion starting at 14:27 in the video): https://bit.ly/2XyticV .
SHERRY KOLLMANN M.ED. 2010; PH.D. 2014
Kollmann was named New Mexico State University’s first vice provost for digital learning initiatives, a new role created by NMSU Provost Carol Parker to develop and drive an online and digital education strategy for the university.
Kollmann will be responsible for the leadership, administrative oversight and coordination of all aspects of online and digital education initiatives occurring throughout the NMSU system. She begins her new role July 1.
DAN KRUTKA B.S. ED 2004; M.ED. 2007; PH.D. 2012
Krutka received tenure at the University of North Texas. He is an assistant professor of social studies education in the department of Teacher Education and Administration and has been a faculty member at UNT since 2017.
MARY BETH MINNIS B.S. ED. 1999
Minnis produced the documentary “Jump Shot,” which tells the story of Kenny Sailors, the developer of the modern-day jump shot in basketball. The film had its world premiere at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival and won awards at the DeadCenter Film Festival, Heartland International Film Festival and Hill Country Film Festival. NBA star Stephen Curry served as an executive director on the film, which features interviews with a host of basketball greats — including Curry himself, as well as Kevin Durant, Dirk Nowitzki, Clark Kellogg, Bob Knight, Nancy Lieberman, Lou Carneseca and Kiki Vandeweghe. Two other OU alumni, Ryan Munson and Drew Munson, were also executive producers on the film. Learn more about the film at https://www.jumpshotmovie.com/.
ANN NOBLE B.S. ED. 1963
Noble co-authored the book Glow and Grow in the Grace of God along with her granddaughter, Carlisle Hope Noble. This inspired-by-God book takes the readers through 14 aspects of spiritual growth. For more information on the book, visit https://amzn.to/3d67Wdy.
In February, Assistant Professor Kate Raymond took her graduate students to visit the special collections at University of Oklahoma Libraries to view rare books of women in science.
RACHEL RENBARGER B.S. ED. 2013
Renbarger received the Baylor University Graduate School Outstanding Graduate Research Award for the social science category for fall 2019. Renbarger completed her Ph.D. in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Psychology in spring 2020.
ANNIE WILDES PH.D. STUDENT, SCIENCE EDUCATION
Wildes published "The Unethical Practice of Omitting Language in State Science Standards: Denying Students True Democratic Freedom" in the Journal of Curriculum Studies Research. Click here to read article.
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MARY COLEMAN, 1955-2020
Coleman passed away on Jan. 16, 2020. She earned her B.S. and M.Ed. in physical education from the College of Education and served 41 years as a P.E. teacher at Jackson Elementary in Norman before retiring in 2019.
At Jackson, she started the Jump Rope Club (Jackson Jumpers), which performed for other local schools and organizations. Coleman was extremely proud that the program was adopted by other school districts statewide. She also worked closely with the Jackson music faculty, choreographing numerous school programs from The Nutcracker to The Sound of Music. Additionally, Coleman started the Running Club at Jackson, and each April led a trip to Oklahoma City, where members of the running club ran the last mile of the OKC Memorial Marathon. As a result of her commitment to Jackson students, in 2019 Jackson Elementary created the “Mary Coleman Physical Fitness Award,” given to two students annually that demonstrated excellence in physical fitness.
Coleman is survived by her husband of 36 years, Bill Coleman. Together they raised four children: two daughters, Allison Parker (Spencer) and Jillian Coleman (Ricky Dent) of Oklahoma City, and two sons, Russ Coleman (Paula Aduen) of Boston and Jack Coleman (Brittyn) of San Francisco.
AMY LANGENBACH, 1967-2020
Langenbach passed away on March 18, 2020. Langenbach earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from OU. She began her 29-year teaching career at Lakeview Elementary and followed that with 22 years at Kennedy Elementary. She worked briefly in the Oklahoma City Public Schools as an instructional coach before returning for two final years with Moore Public Schools. She retired in May 2019.
Langenbach was preceded in death by her parents, Michael and Mary Ann. She is survived by her wife, Kelly; sons, Jonathan and Matthew; sister, Lisa Monroe; and nephew, Jackson. In addition, she leaves behind countless friends with whom she enjoyed many happy hours floating in the pool or hanging out under the pergola.
Her father was a beloved College of Education faculty member, as was her sister Lisa.
NANCY O'BRIAN, 1939-2020
O’Brian passed away on April 26, 2020. O’Brian received her bachelor’s degree in secondary education, master’s degree and doctor of education in education administration from OU. She also served as a member of the Board of Advocates and instructor in the college.
O’Brian spent nearly 40 years in Norman Public Schools, beginning as a teacher in 1961 before moving to curriculum director to assistant superintendent to superintendent in 1997 before retiring in 2000. In her later years as an administrator, O’Brian was an innovator and an advocate, working with Oklahoma lawmakers and the State Department of Education to push for the best possible education for Norman students.
She was recognized as the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Administrator of the Year and inducted into the Oklahoma Educator Hall of Fame in 1998. After retiring, she received the ATHENA Award, which honors an individual in the Norman community who has attained and personified the highest level of professional excellence in a business or profession, has devoted time and energy to the community in a meaningful way, and has opened doors of leadership opportunities for women.
The Nancy O’Brian Center for the Performing Arts, named in her honor, stands as a physical reminder of her dedication to the arts in providing the fullest possible education for all students.
O’Brian was preceded in death by her parents, Ray and Clifton; her sisters, Linda Lassiter and Julie Garrison; her brother, Billy Reavis; and her husband, Tom O’Brian. She is survived by her children, Shaun of Norman, Kelly of Seattle, Washington, and Kevin of Tulsa; as well as her grandchildren, Kate and Ella of Tulsa.
The Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education Honor Roll recognizes our generous donors.