UW College of Education Names 2022 Award Recipients

The University of Wyoming College of Education has honored five faculty members, a staff member and two graduate students for their outstanding accomplishments and service to the college.

Every year, the college recognizes select faculty, staff and graduate students by presenting awards and a $750 stipend to each recipient. The faculty and staff awards are selected by the dean and associate deans from a pool of nominations. Other awards are determined by past recipients, the chair of the college’s Tenure and Promotion Committee and other college administrators as determined by the dean.

There are seven award categories: Faculty Award for Outstanding Advising; Faculty Award for Outstanding Contributions Toward Improving the Climate of the College; Faculty Award for Outstanding Research and Scholarship; Faculty Award for Outstanding Service to the Education Profession; Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching; Outstanding Graduate Student Award for Significant Accomplishments; and Staff Award for Outstanding Service to the College.

This year’s award recipients are:

Faculty Award for Outstanding Advising

Todd Reynolds, an assistant professor of secondary education, was the recipient of the Faculty Award for Outstanding Advising. Reynolds is a passionate supporter of his students and takes time to provide them guidance so they can get the most out of their experience in the College of Education.

In addition to supportive advising, Reynolds is a prolific researcher who has published 13 peer-reviewed manuscripts since 2016. He is the past recipient of two UW Literacy Research Center and Clinic grants and received the Mary Garland Early Career Fellowship in 2020 and the College of Education Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2016.

Faculty Award for Outstanding Contributions Toward Improving the Climate of the College

Jonathan Carrier, an assistant professor of higher education administration, was recognized with the Faculty Award for Outstanding Contribution Toward Improving the Climate of the College. Carrier acts as lead adviser for 40 doctoral students in the higher education administration program. He meets regularly with those students and provides guidance related to committee formation and program of study development, and monitors student progress through the program. This demanding work is critical to student success and completion in the college’s programs.

Faculty Award for Outstanding Research and Scholarship

Richard Carter, an assistant professor, was honored with the Faculty Award for Outstanding Research and Scholarship. Carter has established a strong publication record, having published 20 refereed articles and three book chapters since 2016. He has provided an invaluable service to junior faculty members across the university by using the extensive network he has created to match his colleagues with other research collaborators in their fields. His contributions and teamwork have helped to advance and enrichen the scholarly productivity of the entire college.

Faculty Award for Outstanding Service to the Education Profession

Amanda DeDiego, an assistant professor of counseling at UW-Casper, was honored with the Faculty Award for Outstanding Service to the Education Profession. DeDiego has published 15 peer-reviewed articles and eight book chapters, and she has a contract for a textbook scheduled for publication. She has become a sought-after resource for providing professional development for the state’s mental health and school counselors across the state.

She supports the development of her students by involving them in her research projects, and her scholarly work demonstrates a commitment to Wyoming’s people and communities. A current research project that is attracting national attention involves developing a pilot telehealth access program that uses spaces in public libraries and would be the first of its type in the nation.

Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching

Kara Holt, an associate professor of counseling, was the recipient of the Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching. Holt regularly receives high marks from students for her work as an instructor in counseling and play therapy, and her student evaluation scores rank among the best in the college.

Outstanding Graduate Student Award for Significant Accomplishments

Johannes Addido, of Laramie, a curriculum and instruction Ph.D. student in the science education concentration, was one of the honorees who received the Outstanding Graduate Student Award for Significant Accomplishments. Addido is an international student from Somanya, Ghana, and was a recipient of the Joseph I. Stepans Scholarship in the College of Education. He has presented his research at the 2022 American Educational Research Association conference, the 2022 Association for Science Teacher Education conference and the 2022 National Association for Research in Science Teaching conference.

Kelly Hawkinson, of Gillette, a curriculum and instruction Ph.D. student in the mathematics education concentration, was the second recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Student Award for Significant Accomplishments. During her studies, Hawkinson raised a family, continued her full-time teaching career and finalized her dissertation -- which was one of the first pieces of empirical work on growth mindset in the United States.

Staff Award for Outstanding Service to the College

Judy Yates, a senior office associate in the dean’s office, received the Staff Award for Outstanding Service to the College. Yates served the faculty and students in the School of Teacher Education and College of Education for over 11 years before a recent move to become an administrative associate for the UW School of Computing.