Our COE community congratulates Dr. Stella Flores, Dr. Angela Valenzuela and Dr. Liliana Garces for being named in the 2025 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Ranking. The list recognizes the top 200 University-based scholars who have done most to shape educational practice and policy in the last year based on publicly available metrics. Dr. Flores is a professor who also holds an appointment in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and is Director of Research and Strategy for the Education Research Center. Dr. Garces is the Ken McIntyre Professor for Excellence in School Leadership and holds affiliate faculty appointments in the University of Texas School of Law, the Center for Mexican American Studies, and the Texas Center for Equity Promotion. Dr. Valenzuela is a professor and Director of the University of Texas Center for Education Policy.
Dr. Angela Valenzuela, a professor in the Educational Policy and Planning program, was awarded the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award by the Texas Association for Bilingual Education (TABE). The award is meant to recognize people who have made significant and enduring contributions to bilingual education in Texas and beyond, especially in regard to advancing the academic success of emergent bilingual students and playing a pivotal role in shaping the future of this field of education. Among her many accomplishments, she is a co-founder of Academia Cuauhtli (Eagle Academy in Nahuatl), which offers instruction in Spanish to fourth- and fifth-grade students who attend six East Austin schools. Dr. Valenzuela was celebrated for her extensive and influential work in bilingual education, including her research, advocacy and commitment to social justice. She holds a courtesy appointment in the Cultural Studies in Education Program within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and is the director of the Center for Education Policy at UT Austin and a member of the National Academy of Education.
David Lee, doctoral student within the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy’s Cooperative Superintendency Program, was selected as one of two 2025 recipients of the Johnny L. Veselka Scholarship by the Texas Association of School Administrators. The recognition seeks to celebrate outstanding doctoral students who are pursuing careers in educational leadership, especially those with an emphasis on superintendency. He will receive a $2,500 scholarship, as well as recognition during the 2025 TASA Midwinter Conference in Austin this month. Lee is the principal of Sunset High School in Dallas ISD and was named the district’s Principal of the Year. TASA is an organization which hopes to support, develop and promote leaders that will create and maintain student-centered schools and help prepare public school students for the future.
Educational Leadership and Policy doctoral student Nina Means has been featured in Austin Woman Magazine’s Change Makers List 2025 for being a Trend Disrupter. She is the inaugural director of Austin Community College’s Fashion Incubator. Means is a member of the 2023 Executive Ed.D. in Higher Education Leadership cohort and worked in the field of public health before pivoting to fashion. Her research focuses on developing frameworks that integrate new technologies into educational curriculum and merging educational theories with practical applications for her students. Most recently, she has integrated artificial intelligence in fashion to help future leaders in the field to stay at the forefront of the industry and utilize these tools to achieve creative and operational success.
Dr. Jennifer Keys Adair, Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, was selected as an Editor of AERA Open, a peer reviewed, open access journal that is published by the American Educational Research Association (AERA). The appointment is from Jan 2025 -June 2028. AERA Open hopes to advance information on education and learning through empirical and theoretical research that is conducted throughout a wide range of areas of study. Dr. Adair is also the director of the Agency and Young Children Research Collective at UT Austin and is a trained cultural anthropologist and former preschool teacher. Her research focuses on understanding how societal injustices impact young children’s early learning experiences. Her work has been published in a variety of journals, including the Harvard Educational Review, and she co-authored the award-winning book, Segregation by Experience: Agency, Racism and Early Learning. Dr. Adair also serves on multiple national editorial and advisory boards and lectures in multiple countries.
