UW’s Hardesty Wins Distinguished Educator Award

Canyon Hardesty, an associate director of the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities (WIND) in the University of Wyoming College of Health Sciences, has been awarded the 2023 Bright Star Distinguished Educator Award, presented by the Wyoming Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities.

The annual award recognizes outstanding performance by educators identified by both their peers and communities as having consistently excelled in the field of disabilities.

In her role as director of community education and training, Hardesty is responsible for developing curriculum and delivering training for individuals with developmental disabilities, their families and the professionals who support them. In just the past year, she administered 123 training programs for a total of 12,098 people.

“Canyon has gained widespread recognition for her commitment to addressing the diverse needs of individuals, families and professionals through training programs that deliver best-practice information. She utilizes her community expertise and problem-solving to address real-world scenarios,” says Michelle Hilaire, WIND interim executive director. “Her contributions have been recognized by state agencies, organizations and families. WIND is elated that Canyon has received this award.”

One of the training programs Hardesty manages is Project ECHO, a professional development model designed to enhance and support the capacity of professionals who work with individuals with disabilities, particularly in the areas of health care, education and family support. These networks delivered 141 hours of continuing education credits in the last year, building the capacity of educators, family members and health care practitioners to improve the lives of individuals with disabilities throughout Wyoming.

Hardesty also is an adjunct faculty member of the University of Utah’s Department of Pediatrics. In this capacity, she coordinates Wyoming student fellowships in Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities programs that help to increase the capacity of the future health care workforce for meeting the needs of families that have children with developmental disabilities.

“WIND and the College of Health Sciences congratulate Canyon on receiving this award,” says Jacob Warren, dean of the College of Health Sciences. “We are proud of her for receiving this recognition of her engagement on behalf of individuals with disabilities in Wyoming.”

Learn more about WIND at www.uwyo.edu/wind/.

About UW’s College of Health Sciences

UW’s College of Health Sciences trains health and wellness professionals and researchers in a wide variety of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, speech-language pathology, social work, kinesiology, public health, health administration and disability studies. The college also oversees residency and fellowship programs in Casper and Cheyenne, as well as operating a speech/hearing clinic in Laramie and primary care clinics in Laramie, Casper and Cheyenne.

With more than 1,600 undergraduate, graduate and professional students, the college is dedicated to training the health and wellness workforce of Wyoming and conducting high-quality research and community engagement, with a particular focus on rural and frontier populations.