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Recognized Among Top Education Schools
UB’s Graduate School of Education has been recognized among the nation’s best, securing the No. 47 spot in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Graduate Education Schools rankings. Among public universities, GSE rose to No. 37 and is the No. 1 education school among public universities in New York State, a testament to our ongoing commitment to innovation, research and student success.
Honors and Awards
Faculty Awards
Stephanie Fredrick, associate director of the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention, received the Shapiro Mid-Career Scholar Research Award from the Society for the Study of School Psychology for her project, “Extending the Evaluation of the Effects of a Digital Citizenship Program with 6th-Grade Students.”
Heidi Julien, professor of information science, received the 2025 Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T) Award of Merit—the organization’s highest distinction—for her sustained and influential contributions to information science through scholarship, leadership and mentorship.
Namsook Kim, clinical associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, has been elected to the TESOL International Association’s Nominating Committee.
Katheryne Leigh-Osroosh, assistant professor in the school counseling program, received the Counselor Education Qualitative Interest Network (CEQUIN) Qualitative Researcher of the Year Award for her contributions to qualitative research in counselor education.
Stephen Santa-Ramirez, associate professor of higher education, was named to the third cohort of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Fellows at the State University of New York. He also received the 2025 Association for the Study of Higher Education Early Career Award and the 2026 Outstanding Advocate Award from the ACPA–College Student Educators International's Coalitions & Networks.
Student Awards
Elnaz Amini, a master’s student in the higher education and student affairs program, was named a 2025 Western New York Prosperity Fellow by the Prentice Family Foundation.
Jane Bartley, a doctoral student in the Department of Information Science and full-time digital archivist at Virginia Military Institute, was named a 2025 ASIS&T New Leader.
Kayla Burt, a doctoral student in the Department of Information Science and data analyst at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was named an emerging scholar by the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE).
Jahare Hudson, a PhD student in the counseling psychology and school psychology program, was named a 2025 Western New York Prosperity Fellow by the Prentice Family Foundation.
Lino Loja, a doctoral student in the educational psychology and quantitative methods program, received a second-place poster award at the SMART Youth Mental Health Summit. His poster was titled, “Do Community Schools Work for High-Needs Students? Evaluating Integrated Student Support Services and Outcomes for Equity.”
Hassan Mortada, a doctoral student in the Department of Information Science and manager of the Non-Latin Script Unit at Yale University Library, was named a 2025 ASIS&T New Leader.
Red Murdock, a master’s student in the education studies program and linebacker for the UB Bulls, has been named to the 2025 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. He also was selected by the Denver Broncos as “Mr. Irrelevant,” the final pick of the NFL Draft.
Yuya Yamamoto earned second place in UB’s Tenth Annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition, held March 6, 2026, for “Who Owns Teachers’ Learning? Reimagining Teacher Professional Growth Through Co-Design.”
Alumni Awards
Laureen Cantwell-Jurkovic, PhD ’24, was named as an emerging scholar by the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE).
Catalina Crespo-Sancho, PhD ’09, was recognized by the UB Alumni Association Board for her distinguished humanitarian work and her leadership as a notable alumna.
Staff Awards
GSE’s marketing and communications team received a Gold Award in the 2025 Education Digital Marketing Awards for excellence in website redesign. The team also received a Web Excellence Award in the Education category with the Web Excellence Awards (WE-Awards). These recognitions highlight the work of Amber M. Winters, William J. Belz III, Danielle M. LeGare and Nicole Mehlman-Davidow.
GSE’s Office of Admissions received the Association for Graduate Enrollment Management’s (NAGAP) Promotion of Excellence Award for their innovative “Hidden Curriculum of Graduate School Admissions” series. This award recognizes the work of Ryan Taughrin, Lynette DePonceau, Alaina Guzman, Daniel Krawiec, Duvi Kominiarek, Renad Aref and William Bogdan.
Event Recap
Explore our 2026 event highlights. View upcoming events on our calendar.
CELaRAI Quarterly Forum
“AI and Education: Identifying Hard Challenges Worthy of Sustained Partnerships,” featuring Jeremy Roschelle, PhD, executive director of Learning Sciences Research at Digital Promise | Feb. 12, 2026
Gail Paradise Kelly Memorial Endowed Lecture
“Salía De Uno y Me Metí En Otro: Latina Immigrant Survivors of Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence,” featuring Laurie Cook-Heffron, PhD, St. Edward’s University | March 5, 2026
Johnstone Lecture Series
“Campus Speech in Polarized Times,” featuring Sigal Ben-Porath, PhD, University of Pennsylvania | April 22, 2026
Graduate School of Education Student Research Symposium
“Human-AI Collaboration & Agency” | March 31, 2026
Guest Speaker
“From Doctoral Research to Global Impact: Career Pathways in Human Rights and International Development,” featuring Catalina Crespo-Sancho, PhD, Ambassador of Costa Rica to the United States | April 28, 2026
Institute for Learning Sciences Fall Speaker Series
“Pioneering AI for Personalized Education: Designing Human-Centered Systems for Speech and Language Learning,” featuring Qingxiao Zheng, PhD, University at Buffalo | Dec. 4, 2025
Three Minute Thesis
Yuya Yamamoto, a language education and multilingualism doctoral student, won second place for his thesis “Who Owns Teachers’ Learning? Reimagining Teacher Professional Growth Through Co-Design.” | March 6, 2026
Black History Nerds Saturday School Professional Development Series
Black History Nerds Saturday School is for pre-K–12 school teachers and others interested in learning more about Black history and race.
“Expanding the So-Called NIL Deals of Historical Exemplars,” featuring Akil Parker, MEd, CEO of All This Math | Jan. 10, 2026
“Honoring the Legacy: Creating the Blackprint 20,” featuring Abigail Henry, Schomburg Fellow and GSE doctoral student, and Ismael Jimenez, director of social studies curriculum at the School District of Philadelphia | Feb. 21, 2026
“But What Did Black Educators Already Teach Us about Reading Instruction? Exposing Paucity in the Science of Reading and Other Approaches,” featuring Tiffany Nyachae, PhD, Penn State University | March 14, 2026
“Freedom for Me and also for Thee: The History and Significance of Binational Emancipation Day Commemorations,” featuring Natasha Henry-Dixon, PhD, York University | April 11, 2026