Category: Alumni News

Alum Yaghmaian honored with Oregon Counseling Association award

UW–Madison alumna Rana Yaghmaian has been honored with the Leona Tyler Award from the Oregon Counseling Association (ORCA). Yaghmaian is an assistant professor in the Counselor Education Department at Portland State University (PSU), and she is also the coordinator of PSU’s Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling Program. She earned her doctorate in rehabilitation psychology from the UW–Madison School …

UW–Madison alum Liu publishes new book, ‘Critical Reflection for Transformative Learning’

UW–Madison alumna Katrina Liu recently published a book titled, “Critical Reflection for Transformative Learning: Understanding ePortfolios in Teacher Education.” Aimed at educators and ePortfolio designers, the book “provides a research-based guide to using ePortfolios to develop critically reflective teachers capable of transformative learning for educational equity,” notes the description on the Springer Education website. The description continues: …

UW–Madison alumna Kulkarni awarded AERA teacher education grant

UW–Madison alumna Saili S. Kulkarni was recently awarded a Re-envisioning Teaching and Teacher Education in the Shadow of the COVID-19 Pandemic (RTTE) grant from Division K (Teaching and Teacher Education) of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Kulkarni earned her PhD from the School of Education’s Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education in 2015, and is currently an assistant …

Alum Stonewall is an agent of change

By L Malik Anderson This article originally appeared in Badger Vibes. In July, Crystal Stonewall was selected to the Wisconsin Law Review just before her second year at the UW Law School. “I was super happy to be offered a spot on the Wisconsin Law Review,” says Stonewall, who expects to graduate from law school in …

UW–Madison alum O’Connor honored with Native American 40 Under 40 award

UW–Madison alumnus David O’Connor has been honored with a Native American 40 Under 40 award from the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. O’Connor is the American Indian Studies consultant with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI). He holds a master’s degree from the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. O’Connor is originally …

Former UW–Madison exchange student Lunga is finalist for Teacher of the Year award

Duduzile Lunga, who attended UW–Madison as an international exchange student in the fall of 2018, is a finalist for KFM 94.5’s Teacher of the Year award in Cape Town, South Africa. Lunga is one of 10 finalists the radio station selected out of over 3,500 nominees. Lunga is a math teacher at Pinelands High School in Cape …

CARES Act didn’t give community colleges a ‘fair shake,’ Hillman tells State Journal

The Wisconsin State Journal utilized the expertise of UW–Madison’s Nicholas Hillman for an article reporting on how the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act has shortchanged technical and community colleges, meaning that some Wisconsin college students who were most likely to need money to help them through the pandemic were the least likely to receive …

UW–Madison’s Apple and alumna Verma co-edit ‘Disrupting Hate in Education’

UW–Madison’s Michael W. Apple and alumna Rita Verma have co-edited a book that is titled, “Disrupting Hate in Education: Teacher Activists, Democracy, and Global Pedagogies of Interruption.” Apple is the John Bascom Professor Emeritus of Curriculum and Instruction, and Educational Policy Studies. Verma earned her doctorate from the School of Education’s Department of Educational Policy Studies, and …

Studies show social support key to successful academic outcomes for veterans, military service members

By Lynn Armitage, WCER communications The transition from military to college life can be a socially difficult one for military service members and veterans (SSM/Vs). However, members of this unique and talented student population stand a better chance of success when they are supported by a strong network of fellow students, veteran coordinators, faculty, or …

Alumna Shasparay is founder, artistic director for Black Arts Matter Festival

UW–Madison alumna Shasparay Lighteard, a 2020 graduate of the School of Education’s Department of Theatre and Drama, is the founder and artistic director of the second Black Arts Matter Festival, presented by the Wisconsin Union Theater. Building a community around Black artistry by uplifting Black art and Black voices in white-dominated spaces, the Black Arts Matter Festival is an …