Maisie Gholson honored with 2021 Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award
Maisie Gholson, assistant professor of educational studies in the School of Education, has been recognized with a 2021 Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award. The award, given to five University of Michigan faculty members this year, honors contributions to the development of a culturally and ethnically diverse U-M community. Since 1996, the service award has been granted by the Office of the Provost in honor of Harold Johnson, dean emeritus of the School of Social Work.
Gholson was honored for her work applying a Black feminist framework to mathematics education and research into areas often dismissed in the field, including the effects of children’s social relationships and networks on their learning opportunities within mathematics. The values and practice of equity and social justice are integrated into Gholson's courses.
In 2019, Gholson launched the Race and Social Justice Institute, in which members build literacies to support research and teaching centered on educational justice. She mentors students committed to diversity and social justice, and works to enhance the success of students of diverse cultural and racial backgrounds.
Elizabeth Birr Moje, Dean of the School of Education, George Herbert Mead Collegiate Professor of Education and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, wrote in her letter nominating Gholson for the award that Gholson “has made an incredible impact on the students, faculty and overall community culture in the School of Education. In turn, she empowers others to intellectually and skillfully address issues of race and social justice in their own realms of influence.”
