School of Education faculty member Brian Burt has been honored by the International Colloquium on Black Males in Education with its Warrior Award, an international distinction given to individuals who have provided longstanding service, commitment, and leadership focused on challenges impacting Black males in education.
Burt, a professor in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis and director of Wisconsin’s Equity and Inclusion Laboratory (Wei LAB) in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER), received the honor at the colloquium’s meeting in Pittsburgh, Pa., in October.
Jerlando Jackson, dean of the Michigan State University College of Education, presented Burt with the honor. In his remarks, Jackson said Burt’s scholarship has provided “a comprehensive understanding of the challenges Black men face in navigating STEM disciplines and has identified solutions to enhance their educational trajectories.”
“Dr. Burt’s work addresses a critical gap in STEM education by focusing on the often-overlooked experiences of Black male students,” Jackson said. “His dedication to promoting inclusivity and equity in traditionally exclusionary fields, coupled with his mentorship and advocacy, makes him a natural choice for the Warrior Award, as he is advancing significant social justice causes in education.”
Last fall, Burt received the inaugural University of Maryland Alumni Changemaker Award. He has also received alumni awards from Indiana University and the University of Michigan.
Burt has also received numerous awards recognizing his excellence in research, including the National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship and National Science Foundation Early CAREER Award. Last year, he received an H.I. Romnes Fellowship from UW–Madison, which recognizes faculty with exceptional research contributions within their first six years from promotion to a tenured position.
Burt’s research uses qualitative methodological approaches to study the experience of graduate students and the institutional policies and practices that influence students’ pathways. His current research falls into two strands: understanding team-based research experiences and exploring the experiences of underrepresented graduate students of color in engineering. A recent publication, a collaboration with his doctoral student mentees, published in the Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, illuminates some factors that influence Black men to pursue higher education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
Earlier this fall, Burt launched Black Males in Engineering, a project aimed at combating the shortage of Black men in STEM fields.