About the Distinguished Alumni Award
The Indiana University School of Education Distinguished Alumni Award is the highest honor bestowed upon an alum by the School. The award was founded in 1977 to recognize alumni who have enhanced the reputation of the school by distinguishing themselves in their careers and have made significant contributions to their community, state and nation through professional service, public service and civic activities.
The annual awards are given in four categories:
The Excellence in PreK-12 Education Award recognizes IU School of Education alumni who have excelled in PreK-12 education by providing leadership in the use of innovative classroom methods, programs or other initiatives.
The Excellence in Higher Education Award recognizes IU School of Education alumni who are transforming higher education through exceptional programs, innovative services, and effective leadership.
The Early Career Achievement Award recognizes IU School of Education alumni who have made outstanding professional contributions to the field of education and received their degree from the IU School of Education within the last ten years.
The Outstanding Alumni Award recognizes graduates who have excelled in their chosen field and demonstrated exceptional civic service and/or charitable responsibility to effect positive social change.
2023 Awardees
Pam Fischer (B.S.'88, M.A.'99)
Excellence in PreK-12 Education Award
Pam Fischer was a secondary English teacher for thirty-three years before retiring in May of 2021 and moving to Tucson, Arizona. Her life was profoundly shaped both personally and professionally by the Global Gateways Program beginning with her student teaching placement in Cheltenham, England, in the spring of 1988; she is still close to the Malyons, her host family, more than 35 years later.
Indeed, that experience gave her the courage to land a position early in her career at ACS International in Cobham, Surrey, in England where she lived with the boarding school students on campus. Fischer taught at North Central High School, Lafayette Jefferson High School, Lawrence Central High School, and Park Tudor Schools.
Fischer has always prioritized attending to her students’ mental health long before it was explicitly recognized in the field as a best practice; she wanted her students to feel seen and safe in her classroom while pushing them to reach their greatest potentials as writers and critical thinkers. She completed a two-year term as the president of the Indiana University School of Education Alumni Board and has been a frequent speaker at the Global Gateway for Teachers Spring Workshop.
Fischer was an instructor with the Global Online Academy, an international consortium of leading schools the world over; she instructed students in a creative nonfiction course with pupils from Somalia, Kenya, Hong Kong, Mexico, and the United States. Several years ago, she launched a side gig as the College Application Whisperer. Most recently, she conducted a workshop this past June for Macedonian teachers about how to guide their students through the American college application process.
In Tucson, Fischer is co-chair of the high school scholarship committee in her neighborhood, awarding over $50,000 in scholarships to young women in the community. She received her B.S. in Education and M.A. from the IU School of Education.
Gene Tempel (M.A.’74, Ed.D.’85)
Excellence in Higher Education Award
Gene Tempel is Founding Dean Emeritus of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and a Professor of Philanthropic Studies. He led the world’s first school devoted to research and teaching about philanthropy. An internationally recognized expert on the philanthropic sector, he has four decades of leadership and fundraising experience.
He helped found the school’s precursor, the Center on Philanthropy, and was its executive director for 11 years, transforming it into a leading national resource. Generous donors recently established the Eugene R. Tempel Endowed Deanship at the school to honor Tempel. It will enable future deans to continue the development of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy to reach its full potential and to achieve its goal of improving philanthropy to improve the world.
A member of several nonprofit boards, Tempel is a past chair of the National Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Ethics Committee. An early leader in creating the field of philanthropic studies, he was the first elected president of the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council and a member of Independent Sector’s Expert Advisory Panel that helped create national guidelines for nonprofit governance and ethical behavior.
The author of several works in the field, he has won numerous awards and has been named among the 50 most influential nonprofit sector leaders 13 times by The NonProfit Times, which also named him the sector’s first “Influencer of the Year '' in 2013. He earned his Ed.D. from the IU School of Education and is a Certified Fundraising Executive.
Dawn Whitehead (B.A.’97, M.S.’03, Ph.D.’07)
Outstanding Alumni Award
Dawn Michele Whitehead is the Vice President of the Office of Global Citizenship for Campus, Community, and Careers at the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Her work focuses on advancing practices and strategies to integrate global, civic, and experiential learning across curricular and co-curricular initiatives and practices that advance equitable participation in global and community-based learning for all for work, life, and citizenship.
She serves as the program director of AAC&U’s Annual Meeting, drawing on the broader work of AAC&U members and contemporary issues in higher education to create a compelling and timely meeting. She is also the director of AAC&U’s Institute on Integrative Learning and Signature Work and co-director of the Institute on Teaching and Learning for Campus-Wide Interfaith Excellence in collaboration with Interfaith Youth Core.
Whitehead has published several articles and book chapters on these topics, such as Teaching Civic Engagement Globally, "Cultivating a Global Civic Mindset," “Expanding the Perceptions and Realities of Global Learning: Connecting Disciplines through Integrative Global Learning and Assessment,” and “Reflections on Title VI from a National Perspective.” She has presented and published nationally and internationally and was named an inaugural member of the Institute for International Education’s National Academy for International Education. Whitehead is also vice-chair of the board of directors for The Forum on Education Abroad and vice-chair of the Indiana University Alumni Association Board of Managers. Whitehead also served as Director of Curriculum Internationalization and was the faculty director for community engaged global learning programs in Ghana, Kenya, and Costa Rica at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis. She was also a social studies teacher at Pike High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. Whitehead holds a Ph.D. in Education Policy Studies with concentrations in African Studies and International and Comparative Education from the IU School of Education.
Past Awardees
EARLY CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Eddie R. Cole (M.S.’09, Ph.D.’13) Associate Professor University of California, Los Angeles | |
EXCELLENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION AWARD Frank D. Sánchez (Ph.D.’03) Senior Fellow Interfaith America | |
OUTSTANDING ALUMNI AWARD Paola Sztajn (Ph.D.’95) Dean, College of Education North Carolina State University | |
EXCELLENCE IN PRE-K–12 EDUCATION AWARD Rosemary Wolf Rehak (M.S.’77, Ed.D.’86) School Administrator, retired Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation |
EXCELLENCE IN PRE-K-12 EDUCATION AWARD Lily Albright (B.S.’00, M.S.’06) Principal Unionville Elementary School | |
OUTSTANDING ALUMNI AWARD Janice Brown (Ed.D.’81) Superintendent (Retired) Kalamazoo Public Schools | |
OUTSTANDING ALUMNI AWARD Gene Jongsma (B.S.’64, Ed.D.’71) Retired Educator | |
EXCELLENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION AWARD Lynda R. Wiest (Ph.D. ’96) Professor, College of Education and Human Development University of Nevada, Reno |
EXCELLENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION AWARD Harold "Pete" Goldsmith, Ed.D. (Ed.D.’75) Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, retired Indiana University Bloomington | |
EXCELLENCE IN PREK-12 EDUCATION AWARD Naomi B. Searle, M.Ed. (B.S.’85) 6th Grade Teacher, English Language Arts South Middleton School District | |
EARLY CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Susie L. Gronseth, Ph.D. (Ph.D.’11) Clinical Associate Professor University of Houston | |
OUTSTANDING ALUMNI AWARD William H. Parrett, Ph.D. (B.S.’72, M.S.’73, Ph.D.’79) Director Emeritus, Center for School Improvement & Policy Studies Boise State University |
David A. Ambler, Ed.D. (Ed.D.'66) Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Emeritus The University of Kansas | |
Carole Ames, Ph.D. (M.S.’68) Dean Emerita Michigan State University College of Education | |
Marilyn Friend, Ph.D. (M.S.’78, Ph.D.’81) Professor Emerita The University of North Carolina at Greensboro | |
Karen Schuster Webb, Ph.D. (M.S.’73, Ph.D.’80) President Union Institute & University |
Dena Cushenberry-Burrello (Ed.S.’09, Ed.D.’12) Retired Superintendent of Schools MSD Warren Township | |
Judith A. DeMuth (Ed.D.’99) Superintendent of Schools Monroe County Community School Corporation | |
James B. Luther (Ph.D.’92) Owner & President Luther Consulting, LLC | |
Frederick A. Taylor, Jr. (B.S.’73) Administrator Zephyrhills Health & Rehabilitation Center |
Brady Barr, PhD (BS’87) Children’s Book Author & Educator/herpetologist/owner Eco Adventures Nature Center | |
Saisuree Chutikul, EdD (MS’57, EdD’62) Chairperson/Member of multiple National Committees in Thailand Country of Thailand | |
Ted S. Hasselbring, EdD (BS’71, EdD’79) Professor of Special Education Vanderbilt University | |
Edson W. Sample (MS’71) Retired Director for Financial Aid Indiana University |
Kimberly L. King-Jupiter, PhD (MS’93, PhD’98) Special Assistant for Research Initiatives Division of Research and Sponsored Programs Tennessee State University | |
Angela M. McNelis, PhD, RN (MS’90) Professor and Associate Dean for Scholarship, Innovation, and Clinical Science George Washington University School of Nursing | |
A.Y. “Fred” Ramirez, PhD (PhD’99) Professor of Education, Concordia University, Irvine Executive Director of EdActs Global | |
Elizabeth J. Whitt (PhD’88) Vice Provost and Dean for Undergraduate Education Professor in Sociology University of California, Merced |
Robert E. Draba, PhD, JD (BS'68) Trial Attorney, Antitrust Division United States Department of Justice Washington, DC | |
Peggy A. Hinckley, EdD (BS'74) Educational Consultant, School Improvement Retired Superintendent | |
R. Elizabeth Odle (MS'74) Retired Program Director, Bridges to Success United Way of Central Indiana | |
Pat Wilson (BS'71, MS'77) Department Chair and Teacher Bloomington High School North |
Richard E. Bishop, EdD (BS'61, MS'71, EdD'77) Retired, Executive Assistant to the President
Indiana University Foundation
Shaun R. Harper, PhD (MS'00, PhD'03)
Associate Professor and Executive Director
Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education
University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
Jann Keenan, EdS (MS'79, EdS'80)
Instructional Designer for Health Literacy/Health Equity
The Keenan Group, Inc.
Stanley Warren, EdD (EdS'71, EdD'73)
Retired Dean, Academic Affairs and Professor of Education
DePauw University
Abdul Farouk Ahmed (MS'79)
Consultant, Human Resources and Organizational Change & Managing Director, ICC Consultants Centre
Maurice C. Daniels, EdD (BA'72, MS'75, EdD'82)
Dean and Professor, Senior Researcher and Executive Producer, University of Georgia, School of Social Work
David A. Lepkojus (BS'74)
Head Teacher/Supervisor, Counselor, Administrator, Bureau of Indian Education, United States Department of the Interior, Many Farms High School
Dr. Victor A. Smith (MS'72, EdD'77)
Retired, Associate Director, Indiana Urban School Association
Patricia A. Payne (BS'64, MS'75)
Director, Crispus Attucks Museum
Gerald O. Thompkins, Ph.D. (BS'70, MS'77)
Director, STEM Education and Research Center, Kent State University
James E. Weigand (EdD'64)
Dean Emeritus, School of Continuing Studies, Indiana University
Christine O. Cheney (EdD'84)
Dean and Professor of Special Education
University of Nevada College of Education
W. Rob Foshay (PhD'77)
Director, Research for the Educational Technology Group
Texas Instruments
James D. Mervilde (MS'81, Spclst'86, EdD'00)
Retired Superintendent
MSD of Washington Township, Indianapolis
Douglas Harris (MS'64, EdD'68)
Retired, Vice President, Knight Ridder Corporation
Earlene Holland (EdS'80)
Retired, Associate Provost, Oakland City University
Keith Jepsen (EdD'84)
President, Global Student Loan Corporation
Youngsoo Kim (PhD'83)
Director, Institute for Teaching & Learning, Ewha Women’s University, Seoul Korea
YoungHwan Kim (PhD'94)
Joseph Russell (MS'68, EdD'70)
H.A.R. Tilaar (MA'66, EdD'67)
Dennis C. Hayes (BS'74, JD'77)
Rodney P. Kirsch (MS'82)
Hazel R. Tribble (MA'75)
B. James Dawson (EdD'84)
Michael Hanes (BS'70, MS'72, PhD'73)
Nathaniel Jones (BS'73, MS'77, Spclst'82)
Patricia Lather (PhD'83)
Bonita S. Beaumont (BS'76)
Carole L. Hahn (EdD'73)
Sharon Robinson Kurpius (PhD'78)
Victor Boschini (EdD'89)
Dale Fuqua (PhD'80)
Sivasailam Thiagarajan (PhD'71, MS'70)
Rick Crosslin (MS'81)
Bonnie Litwiller (MAT'65, EdD'68)
Cynthia Witterhold Cleveland (BS'74, MS'76)
Thomas D. Oakland (MS '65, PhD'67)
Toby Strout (MS'74, PhD'91)
Yvonna S. Lincoln (EdD'78)
Nancy L. Roser (MS'70, EdD'70)