(l-to-r) Christina Dobbs, Andrea Bien, Jennifer Bryson, and Michael Chang. Photo by Michael Spencer

News

BU Wheelock Announces 2025 Faculty Awards

Each year, BU Wheelock recognizes members of its faculty for exceptional scholarship, innovative research, and dedication to academic excellence through its faculty awards. Two of these awards provide funding for full-time faculty to pursue significant research opportunities, while the third honors outstanding faculty members for excellence in teaching, research, and service. Recipients are selected through a competitive process involving peer review, and reflect BU Wheelock’s ongoing commitment to fostering a culture of inquiry and innovative research.

In addition, a new award recognizing outstanding faculty advising was given this year. Nominations for this award were made by BU Wheelock students.

“These recipients are pushing boundaries, tackling important questions, and finding new ways to make needed changes for students, schools, and our broader communities,” says Leslie Dietiker, BU Wheelock’s associate dean for research. “We’re thrilled to recognize and support their incredible work.”

Edward H. Ladd Award for Academic Excellence and Service

The Ladd Award recognizes an outstanding member of the BU Wheelock faculty. The award is given in honor of Ted Ladd, who served on the Wheelock College Board of Trustees for more than 25 years.

Jennifer Greif Green is a professor of special education and a child clinical psychologist. Her research focuses on supporting student mental health and well-being.

Nancy Harayama is a senior lecturer of special education and director of BU Wheelock’s undergraduate program. Her research focuses on the assessment and instruction of students with significant cognitive disabilities.

Gordon L. Marshall Fellowship Award

The Marshall Award provides funding for full-time faculty to pursue significant teaching and research opportunities to achieve specific intellectual, academic, pedagogical or creative goals.

Jennifer Bryson and Andrea Bien: Developing Young Writers: Why Culturally Responsive Writing Instruction is Key for Early Literacy

This book project is focused on writing—an often overlooked and undervalued component of literacy instruction—as a critical tool for early literacy development. 

Christina Dobbs: Critical Iterative Duoenthnography: Advancing a Method for Authentic Belonging and Toward Justice

This project will advance the method of critical iterative duoethnography, developed by the author and collaborators to explore experiences of marginalized faculty and students in the academy.

Large Grant Award

The Large Grant Award supports faculty members in engaging in original, potentially groundbreaking work.

Michael Alan Chang: Imagining Intergenerational Models of Software Development: Shifting Control of Educational Technologies from Private Vendors to Youth

This project will bring together youth and mentors to collectively design an inclusive software development community where youth can play critical roles in imagining and adapting educational technologies to their individual and local hopes and concerns.

Advisor of the Year

This award recognizes a faculty member who truly exemplifies what it means to advise and demonstrates a commitment to BU Wheelock’s mission.

Eli Tucker-Raymond is a research associate professor whose research focuses on ways to connect learning spaces to youth culture and to the human experience as a relational phenomenon more broadly, particularly for young people who come from groups that are disproportionately affected negatively by systemic racism. He is affiliated with the Earl Center for Learning & Innovation.