Doctoral alumni Mara Danielle Johnson, Christopher Kingsland, Sarai Blanco Martinez, and Annaliese Paulson receive the 2025 Stanley E. and Ruth B. Dimond Best Dissertation Award
The Marsal Family School of Education is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 Stanley E. and Ruth B. Dimond Best Dissertation Award. The Dimond Best Dissertation Award was established to give recognition to the premier doctoral dissertation completed in each of the four doctoral programs in the school in the prior year.
Stanley E. Dimond joined the faculty of the School of Education in 1950. His teaching, writing, support of master's and doctoral candidates, and national leadership in social studies and public education were recognized by the Regents of the University of Michigan as he was named, first, distinguished professor in 1966 and, upon his retirement in 1972, professor emeritus. Together with his wife, Ruth Bullis Dimond, Dr. Dimond encouraged several generations of education students to persevere and excel in their chosen fields of inquiry and service. Professor Dimond died in 1989 and Mrs. Dimond in 1996. Prior to her death, Mrs. Dimond established the Stanley E. and Ruth B. Dimond Best Dissertation Award.
The 2025 recipients are listed by the four doctoral programs:
Educational Studies
Awardee: Mara Danielle Johnson
Dissertation Title: “We Just Want to Live Our Fullest Lives”: Black Queer Youth Agency in and Beyond School
Program Chair: Angela Calabrese-Barton
Dissertation Chair: Michelle Bellino
PhD Admin: Lisa Hawkins
Joint Program in English and Education
Awardee: Christopher Kingsland
Dissertation Title: A Good Relationship Between Us: How English Language Arts Preservice
Teachers Navigate Professional Tensions During Student Teaching
Program Chair: Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
Dissertation Chair: Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
PhD Admin: Zhanar Tuleutayeva
Combined Program in Education and Psychology
Awardee: Sarai Blanco Martinez
Dissertation Title: “This is a Healing Space”: Cultivating Latinx Immigrant-Origin Youth’s Radical Healing Practices
Program Chair: Matthew Diemer
Dissertation Chairs: Deborah Rivas-Drake and Fernanda Lima Cross
PhD Admin: Zhanar Tuleutayeva
Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education
Awardee: Annaliese Paulson
Dissertation Title: Three Essays on General Education and Student Success
Program Chair: Lisa Lattuca
Dissertation Chairs: Lisa Lattuca and Kevin Stange
PhD Admin: Melinda Richardson