Athens, Ga. – The College of Education at the University of Georgia honored four graduates for their career achievements and community leadership with distinguished alumni awards at its annual Spring Celebration on Friday, April 24 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education.
Crystal Apple Award
Barbara Michalove, the K-5 Reading/English Language Content Coach for the Clarke County School District, received the 2009 Crystal Apple Award, an honor given to alumni in K-12 education who have made a significant impact on student, school or school district performance.
Michalove (MEd ’87, EdS ’93), of Watkinsville, was recognized for working with her colleagues to support their professional development. She received National Board Certification in 2002.
Michalove received the Clarke County School District’s Foundation for Excellence Superior Teaching Award in 1998 and was Fowler Drive Elementary’s Teacher of the Year for 1991.
Professional Achievement Award
Xue Lan Rong, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Education, received the 2009 Professional Achievement Award, an honor give to alumni in the midpoint of their careers who have demonstrated significant achievements in their fields.
Rong (MA ’84, EdD ‘88), of Chapel Hill, N.C., was recognized as a disciplined and creative scholar focused on immigration and teacher education who works to build bridges between China and the United States.
Wei-Ming Luh (PhD ’02), Distinguished Professor at National Cheng-Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan, also received the Professional Achievement Award. She was chosen to receive the award in 2008, but she was unable to travel from Taiwan for the ceremony.
Luh received the Outstanding Research Award in Education from the National Science Council in Taiwan in 2004 and the Ta-You Wu Memorial Award for distinguished young scholar in 2002.
Luh is presently serving as a Fulbright Research Scholar at Georgia College and State University’s School of Education conducting research on testing methodologies.
Lifetime Achievement Award
Paul Cobb, the Peabody Chair in the Department of Teaching and Learning in Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College of Education, was recognized with the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding success and significant impact in his field.
Cobb (MEd ’80, EdD ’83), of Nashville, Tenn., was recognized as the Joe B. Wyatt Distinguished University Professor at Vanderbilt University for 2003-04.
In 2005, the International Commission on Mathematics Instruction awarded Cobb the Hans Freudenthal Medal for cumulative research over the prior ten years. The award recognizes a major cumulative program of research and pays tribute to outstanding scholarship in mathematics education.
Cobb, also an adjunct professor of education at Southern Cross University in Lismore, Australia, is an Invited Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and is an elected member of the National Academy of Education.