Congratulations to the following Education faculty members, students and staff who have achieved distinction and have recently been acknowledged for their impactful work, both within and beyond the academic community.

2020 Alumni Awards

Congratulations to Education's 2020 Alumni Award recipients, who were honoured with a virtual event on February 24. Click on their names below to read more!

Distinguished Alumni Award: Karen Barnes ('93 MEd, '03 EdD)
Alumni Honour Award: Leith Campbell ('73 Dip(Ed), '78 MEd)
Alumni Excellence Award: Audrey Ochoa ('09 BEd/BMus) (pictured)
Alumni Horizon Award: Danielle Skogen ('11 BEd)
Sports Wall of Fame: Heidi Coleman ('09 BEd)

Faculty Awards

Celebrate! is the annual event to recognize teaching, learning, and research excellence at the University of Alberta. Congratulations to the following Education scholars on their awards!

Douglas Gleddie (Elementary Education): Teaching Unit Award - Health and Physical Education MEd Cohort
Chantal Labonté (Educational Psychology): BMO Financial Group Graduate Scholarship
Hayley Morrison (Elementary Education): Teaching Unit Award - Health and Physical Education MEd Cohort
Tami Oliphant (SLIS): Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching
Cheryl Poth (Educational Psychology): McCalla Professorship
Lauren Sulz (Secondary Education): Provost's Award for Early Achievement of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching; Teaching Unit Award - Health and Physical Education MEd Cohort

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Congratulations to Okan Bulut (Educational Psychology) on being named the recipient of the Coutts-Clarke Research Fellowship, awarded for outstanding scholarship and early-career research achievement.

"With the Coutts-Clarke Fellowship, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to expand the Faculty of Education’s commitment to excellence in teaching and research by helping U of A instructors improve their assessment literacy," Dr. Bulut said.

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Congratulations to Dia Da Costa (Educational Policy Studies) for receiving an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award as part of the UAlberta 2020 Celebration of Service and Excellence Awards.

Dr. Da Costa has been a persistent advocate for increasing support to graduate students and advocating for issues affecting them at the department level, and the university level meetings and conversations about equity and inclusion. She encourages students to take leadership roles and provides the necessary support to student-run events. As a mentor and initiator of creating equitable spaces through RIG, Dr. Da Costa exemplifies commitment to long-term, sustainable, equitable practice for U of A students, staff, and faculty. Her work towards building inclusive classrooms, scholarly and research communities shows her desire to forge equitable futures for the university.

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Secondary Education professor Cathy Adams and Educational Psychology professor Mike Carbonaro have been awarded a 2021 Dean of Students’ Commendation for their student-centred, pedagogically creative approach to facilitating academic accommodations in EDU 210.

Dean of Students Andre Costopoulos writes, "Exceptional service, continued dedication and outstanding professionalism are the hallmarks of the Dean of Students’ Commendations. While you proactively sought and offered solutions for all students in EDU 210 during a challenging shift to remove delivery instruction, your collaborative solutions were particularly exemplified by your work to accommodate those with profound barriers to accessing online visual course content. The meaningful alternatives, which were intellectually stimulating while respectful of students’ experiences and abilities, is truly commendable."

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The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) honoured School of Library and Information Studies interim chair Kathleen DeLong with the CARL Award for Distinguished Service to Research Librarianship during its Fall General Meeting. This award is conferred annually to a Canadian individual who has served the profession with marked distinction and has made significant national and international contributions to research librarianship through their leadership and engagement.

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Congratulations to Elementary Education professor Trudy Cardinal on receiving the 2021 Narrative Research SIG Early Career Award from the American Educational Research Association. The award is designed to recognize a researcher’s outstanding accomplishment in the area of narrative research and to honour an individual in the early career phase, that is, no later than 10 years after receipt of the doctoral degree. Read more.

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Congratulations to Bonnie Watt (Secondary Education) on being awarded the Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training (AIT) Chairperson's Award of Excellence.

The Chairperson’s Award of Excellence recognizes and honours individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary dedication and commitment to their trade and to the apprenticeship and industry training system through outstanding service as a member of the industry advisory system. It also recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding commitment and dedication to the success of apprentices, and in turn, the success of the Apprenticeship and Industry Training System.

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Congratulations to Olenka Bilash (Secondary Education), who has been recognized by the International Affairs Division of the Government of Hokkaido, Japan with the Hokkaido Social Contribution Award for her contributions to English-language education in Hokkaido. Dr. Bilash was nominated for the award by the Hokkaido Board of Education.

Student awards

Congratulations to Educational Psychology graduate student Eki Okungbowa on receiving the Lincoln M. Alexander Award from the Government of Ontario, which honours young leaders for their commitment to anti-racism and equity in their communities.

Okungbowa, who hails from Toronto, was honoured for her participation in grassroots initiatives and her volunteer work with diverse communities and federal government advisory committees as an advocate for social justice and racial equality.

Faculty and staff recognition

Congratulations and sincere gratitude to Linda Brittain, Regional Placement Coordinator in Undergraduate Student Services, for 40 amazing years of service in the Faculty of Education! Read more.

Congratulations and gratitude are also due to Secondary Education professor Norma Nocente, whose 25 years with the Faculty of Education were recognized as part of the 2020 Service and Excellence Awards!