About the Awards
Outstanding Young Alumnus Award
This award recognizes a recent graduate who has shown outstanding leadership and/or exceptional commitment to the education of children. The recipient of this award personifies the mission of the School of Education by emphasizing the interconnectedness of homes, schools, and communities through both professional and volunteer work.
Previous Recipients:
- Christina C. Arnette
- Laura Bilbro-Berry
- Christina M. Bowling
- Cynthia Parlow Cone
- Briana Marie Corke
- Patricia A. Cotham
- Cynthia Demetriou
- Tate O. Gould
- Shanda Twanice Hamm
- William P. Jackson
- Alvera J. Lesane
- Travis E. Lewis
- Enrique G. Murillo
- Mallory Gwen Nickel
- Nicole Gina Pfleger
- Jackie Eunjung Relyea
- Sara-Elizabeth Caroline Senseney
- Elaine Marie Townsend
Excellence in Teaching Award
Recognizes a teacher whose creativity and knowledge of a discipline have been expressed through the development of an innovative and compelling curriculum. The recipient will exemplify the arts of teaching that School programs support.
Previous Recipients:
- Shane John Arce
- Leslie White Baldwin
- John Claude Bemis
- Robert Berry III
- Fred P. Crouch II
- Diane Yendell Day
- Kathy Foster Durham
- Lisa Brown Godwin
- Jason Lawrence Painter
- Cynthia Cole Rigsbee
- Darlene C. Ryan
- Mitzi Safrit
- Jan Schuettpelz
- Angela Panel Scioli
- Matthew M. Sears
- Barbie Garayua Tudryn
- Sofia Villenas
- John Waszak
- John Scott Westefeld
Distinguished Leadership Award
Recognizes exceptional service in furthering the mission and programs of the School. The recipient will have demonstrated exceptional leadership in advancing the learning opportunities available to the School’s community of alumni, faculty, and students.
Previous Recipients:
- Elena L. Ashburn
- Barbara Holland Chapman
- Kristal Moore Clemons
- Frank Comfort
- Van O’Dell Dempsey III
- Robert Wendell Eaves Jr.
- Nancy Jane Farmer
- Elson S. Floyd
- Samuel H. Holton
- Geraldine House
- Thomas James
- Senator Howard N. Lee
- Zoe Woodell Locklear
- Dan G. Lunsford
- Carol Elaine Flynn Malloy
- Howard Maniloff
- David Augustus Martin
- James G. Merrill
- Musette Sprunt Morgan
- J. Michael Ortiz
- Craig Phillips
- Muriel Thomas Summers
- Rodney N. Trice
- Tony B. Watlington Sr.
Alumni Achievement Award
Recognizes exceptional achievement of an alumnus/a who personifies the School’s commitment to support diverse and democratic communities in order to improve education in the state and nation for all children and the adults who care for them. Through exceptional accomplishments, this individual will have earned recognition and brought distinction to this alma mater.
Previous Recipients:
- Lane S. Anderson III
- Barnett Wayne Berry
- Robert Bradley
- Seth N. Brown
- Lisa M. Chapman
- Charles R. Coble
- H. Dickson Corbett III
- Janice Oelrich Davis
- Edwin Dunlap Jr.
- Clyde Edgerton
- Karen Ann Erickson
- Thomas R. Feller Jr.
- Maureen Moczek Hartford
- Ronald Thayer Haskins
- Henry L. Johnson
- Rebecca Kneedler
- Benjamin James Matthews
- Patrick C. Miller
- Ronald Conrad Miller
- Wilma Cecilia Peebles-Wilkins
- Sharon Rose Powell
- Amy M. Rickard
- Cynthia Thompson Rudolph
- William C. Self
- Paula Myrick Short
- Rick Jay Short
- Malbert Smith III
- Zollie Stevenson Jr.
- Luis Urrieta Jr.
- Tracy Savell Weeks
- Iris Roshfeld Weiss
- Betty Lou Whitford
- Roy A. Williams
- Clarence N. York
Excellence in Innovation Award
Recognizes innovation in the entrepreneurial environment of education. The recipient of this award has demonstrated exceptional accomplishments as an entrepreneur utilizing skills obtained in their study and association with the School of Education.
Previous Recipients:
- Moise Antun Khayrallah
Peabody Award
Recognizes an outstanding individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to the field of education. The recipient will have demonstrated a sustained and significant commitment to improving education in North Carolina and/or across the nation.
Previous Recipients:
- Governor Gaston Caperton
- Edward Eugene Causby (posthumously)
- Julius L. Chambers
- Alisa Chapman
- Dudley E. Flood
- William C. Friday and Ida Howell Friday
- James John Gallagher
- Maurice “Mo” Green
- W. Gerry Hancock Jr.
- Governor James B. Hunt Jr.
- Thomas Willis Lambeth
- H. Martin Lancaster
- Howard Manning Jr.
- William R. McNeal
- Sarah E. Parker
- Phillip C. Schlechty
- Betty L. Siegel
- Dean E. Smith and Linnea Weblemoe Smith