By Laurel White
Five faculty from the School of Education have been honored with this year’s Vilas professorships and awards. The awards recognize outstanding research, teaching, and service.
Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professorship
Twelve professors across campus were named to Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professorships, an award recognizing distinguished scholarship as well as standout efforts in teaching and service. The professorship provides five years of flexible funding — two-thirds of which is provided by the Office of the Provost through the generosity of the Vilas trustees and one-third provided by the school or college whose dean nominated the winner. One School of Education faculty member was chosen for the honor:
Lesley Bartlett, Educational Policy Studies
Bartlett is a professor in Educational Policy Studies and associate dean of regional, international, and language studies in UW–Madison’s Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS). An anthropologist by training, she works in the field of international and comparative education. Her teaching and research focus on multilingual literacies, migration, and educator professional development. She has also published widely on ethnographic, case study, and comparative case study research methods.
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Vilas Early-Career Investigator Award
Eighteen professors across campus received Vilas Faculty Early Career Investigator Awards, recognizing research and teaching excellence in faculty who are relatively early in their careers. The award provides flexible research funding for three years. Two School of Education faculty members were chosen for the honor:
Shamya Karumbaiah, Educational Psychology
Karumbaiah is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology. She studies human-centered artificial intelligence (AI) for teaching and learning with the aim to augment human intelligence. Her current research focuses on constructing a scientific and critical understanding of equitable and responsible use of AI in classrooms.
Christopher Saldaña, Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis
Saldaña is an assistant professor of K-12 educational leadership and policy analysis in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. His research examines the relationship between K-12 school finance and educational opportunity, focusing particularly on the educational experiences of minoritized and marginalized students.
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Vilas Mid-Career Investigator Award
Eighteen professors across campus received Vilas Faculty Mid-Career Investigator Awards, recognizing research and teaching excellence. The award provides flexible research funding for three years. Two School of Education faculty members were chosen for the honor:
Amy Bellmore, Educational Psychology
Bellmore is a professor of human development in the Department of Educational Psychology. Her research focuses on the peer relationships of adolescents and, recently, the ways teens use social media to create and maintain their social relationships. Most of the research she does takes place through partnerships with public middle and high schools across Wisconsin who share the goal of promoting the welfare of adolescents.
Erica Turner, Educational Policy Studies
Turner is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and an affiliate in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. Her research examines racism and inequity – and efforts to challenge those – in education policy and practice. She uses sociocultural and critical race theories to understand educational policymaking and practice, and the consequences of educational inequity for students, families, communities, schools, and policymakers.