Distinguished Alumni Awards
Since the late 1800s, the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin has cultivated leaders and innovators in the fields of education, health and sport. Our outstanding alumni are transforming communities, shaping futures and creating meaningful change across Texas and beyond.
The Distinguished Alumni Awards honor these exceptional individuals whose work has made a lasting impact in their fields. Through the Early Career, Distinguished Career and Dean’s Changemaker Awards, we celebrate their excellence, service and unwavering commitment to our college’s core values.
Meet Our 2025 Award Winners
Early Career Award
Carlton Fong
M.A.’11, Ph.D.’14, Educational Psychology
Dr. Carlton Fong, an associate professor in the College of Education at Texas State University, is a distinguished researcher and prolific scholar whose work centers on equity, belonging and motivation in higher education. His research emphasizes the experiences of historically marginalized students, contributing to the advancement of equity and inclusion in education. His leadership roles include inaugural editor of the Campbell Collaboration Disability Coordinating Group and chair of the Motivation in Educational Special Interest Group of the AERA.
Dr. Fong is renowned for his empowering approach to mentorship, consistently providing opportunities for students to co-author research and lead projects, inspiring the next generation of scholars and practitioners.
Sana Ali Meghani
M.Ed. ’17, Educational Leadership and Policy
Sana Ali Meghani is nationally recognized for her transformative leadership and commitment to equity in higher education. Meghani is the co-founder and managing partner of Our Cause, an organization that develops equity-centered initiatives to create sustainable pathways for first-generation college students and students of color.
Meghani, a first-generation college graduate born in Pakistan, draws from her personal experiences to amplify the voices of marginalized students in higher education. She has led efforts to advance national initiatives at Trellis Company in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education. Meghani was also invited to the White House to participate in the First-Gen Summit, which emphasized her dedication to supporting underrepresented student populations.
Distinguished Career Award
Florence Shapiro
B.S. ’70, Secondary Education
Florence Shapiro has served Texas communities for over 30 years. After graduating from UT Austin, she worked as a teacher in Richardson before moving to Plano with her family in 1972, where she turned her focus to civic engagement.
Shapiro was elected to the Plano City Council in 1979, and served until 1990 when she was elected the city’s first female and Jewish mayor. In 1993 she was elected to serve in the Texas State Senate, representing constituents from Collin County and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. She chaired the State Affairs and Education committees for a decade, was lauded for her work authoring Ashley’s Laws in 1995, and worked extensively to support Holocaust education until her retirement in 2013. She currently serves on the College of Education’s Advisory Council.
Jeanne Wanzek
Ph.D. ’05, Special Education
Dr. Jeanne Wanzek is the Currey-Ingram Endowed Chair and professor in the Department of Special Education at the Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. She is an acclaimed scholar and researcher who explores how effective reading instruction and intervention can lead to improved literacy outcomes and create lasting impact.
Before earning her doctorate, Dr. Wanzek worked as a special educator and elementary school teacher, which helped inform her groundbreaking research concerning the prevention and remediation of reading differences and learning disabilities in both early learners and adolescents.
She has numerous publications and presentations in the areas of early reading, learning disability and interventions and is currently implementing two federally funded projects focused on reading intervention while also providing valuable research opportunities for her graduate students.
Dean’s Changemaker Award
Suzan Clark Glickman
B.S. ’64, Elementary Education
Suzan Clark Glickman is a longtime educator, dedicated community volunteer and active philanthropist. She graduated from UT Austin and went on to become a passionate teacher and community leader.
Glickman is a lifetime member and former chair of the College of Education’s Advisory Council and, together with her husband Julius Glickman (B.A. ’62, L.L.B. ’66), serves as honorary co-chair of the College of Education’s What Starts Here Campaign Committee. They have made significant contributions to support generations of upcoming educators and special education teachers through the Suzan Clark Glickman Endowed Fellowship in Early Childhood Special Education and Learning Disabilities. Additionally, the Glickman’s deep passion for supporting students in the College of Education prompted their generous leadership gift to create the Suzan Clark Glickman Student Lounge, a cornerstone of the recent George I. Sánchez Building renovation.
Elizabeth Shatto Massey
B.S. ’61, Elementary Education
Elizabeth Shatto Massey is a former elementary school teacher whose remarkable career includes extraordinary contributions in education, philanthropy and community service.
Massey is a lifetime member and former chair of the College of Education Advisory Council and has also served as a member of the Executive Committee of The University of Texas System’s Chancellor’s Council, chair of UT’s Development Board, co-chair of UT’s Campaign for Texas, and trustee and past president of the Highland Park Independent School District Board of Trustees. She has been recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of UT and received a UT Presidential Citation in 2018.
As lifetime members of the Texas Exes, she and her husband John have generously supported students and faculty through the Elizabeth Shatto Massey Award, which recognizes a UT faculty member who is a “teacher of teachers.”
Award Categories
Early Career Award
The Early Career Award recognizes COE alumni rising stars who are 39 years old or younger on January 1 of the year the award is presented.
Nominees for this award should be inspiring early career professionals who have shown exemplary dedication to create a meaningful impact for children, individuals, schools or communities across Texas and beyond.
Distinguished Career Award
The Distinguished Career Award recognizes the amazing contributions and lifelong achievements of our esteemed COE alumni.
Nominees should be respected professionals with a history of notable work in their field. Additionally, they should have previously received recognition for their merits and significant accomplishments from contemporaries or peers.
Dean’s Changemaker Award
The Dean’s Changemaker Award recognizes an individual’s outstanding legacy of changemaking impact in education, health or sport.
Nominees should have a lifelong record of achievement and advocacy, peer respect and esteem, and sustained contributions to education and the UT community with a legacy as a transformative leader and changemaker.
Criteria for Nomination
Nominees must be living College of Education alumni whose work has helped advance the mission, vision and values of the college by making a significant impact in one or more of our COE signature impact areas.
Nominees should be people of integrity, demonstrated ability and renown that the faculty, staff, students and alumni of the college will take pride in, and be inspired by their recognition.
Graduates from both the college’s undergraduate and graduate degree programs will be considered.
Selection Process
Nominations will be reviewed by a committee of College of Education students, faculty, staff and alumni. The Review Committee’s recommendations will be submitted to the Dean and recipients will be announced later this fall. Awardees will be honored at a special awards ceremony on Thursday, February 27, 2025.
For more information, please contact COE Alumni Awards.
