The Marsal Family School of Education announces the 2024-25 Alumni Award recipients
The annual Alumni Awards recognize Marsal School alumni who exemplify the school’s mission in the work they do every day and throughout their careers as educators.
Each year, the Marsal Family School of Education Alumni Awards recognize the incredible accomplishments of our alumni. Selected by a committee of Marsal School faculty, staff, alumni, and current students, the awards are given to alumni who have made significant contributions to their profession, and whose qualities of leadership, innovation, and passion have advanced the field of education.
Distinguished Education Practitioner Alumni Award
Luke Wilcox (BSEd ’01, TeachCert ’01) has 23 years of classroom experience teaching mathematics at East Kentwood High School, the #1 most diverse public school in Michigan. His teaching has been recognized with the 2013 Presidential Award and 2018 Michigan Teacher of the Year Award, allowing him the incredible opportunity to meet two different Presidents at the White House. He co-founded the website Math Medic, which provides free lesson plans for all high school math classes. Luke believes that math education needs a revolution, from lecture-based boring to student-centered enthusiasm. When he’s not head-down in his work supporting teachers, Luke can be found running, traveling with his family, or enjoying a good cup of coffee.
Distinguished Education Researcher Alumni Award
Dr. Odis Johnson Jr. (PhD ’03) is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Social Policy and STEM Equity at Johns Hopkins University, and the Edmund W. Gordon Chair of Social Policy and Evaluation at the Educational Testing Service (ETS). At Hopkins, Dr. Johnson has faculty appointments in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the School of Education as Executive Director of the Center for Safe and Healthy Schools, and in the Department of Sociology. He also directs the National Science Foundation (NSF) Institute in Critical Quantitative, Computational, and Mixed Methodologies (ICQCM). Dr. Johnson completed his doctorate at the University of Michigan and post-doctoral training at the University of Chicago.
Dr. Johnson’s work on the interrelated topics of social policy, data science, and race has been funded by the NSF, NIH, Joyce Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation. He has recently led the Race, Gender, and Social Control in STEM Lab with support from the NSF and received the Spencer Vision Award for research that seeks to decarcerate pedagogy. A transdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Johnson has published in the leading journals of 12 scientific fields, among them the Journal of Criminal Justice, American Journal of Public Health, Review of Educational Research, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, and Social Science & Medicine. He is the immediate past editor-in-chief of the Sociology of Education, a journal of the American Sociological Association. His field-defining accomplishments in research have received several commendations, including a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, the 2013 AERA Outstanding Review of Research Award, the 2015 Emerald Publishing Outstanding Scholarly Contribution Award, and in 2023, selection as an AIR Scholar of the American Institutes for Research. He currently serves 3-year appointments to scientific advisory boards of the National Science Foundation Directorate for STEM Education, the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development HCV Demonstration, and the U.S. Dept. of Education HS&B:22. A noted voice for justice and racial reform, Dr. Johnson’s work and ideas about social change are mentioned in hundreds of news outlets each year.
Lifetime Achievement Alumni Award
Dr. Barbara Eason-Watkins (ABEd ’73, TeachCert ’73) retired as Superintendent of the Michigan City Area Schools in Michigan City, Indiana, in July, 2024, following an exemplary career in education that spanned over five decades.
Her top priorities as MCAS superintendent centered on strengthening the instructional core, expanding career and technical education opportunities, and making Michigan City a system of choice through increased options for families and students. She led efforts to establish magnet schools in the arts (at Pine Elementary) and in science, technology, engineering and math (at Lake Hills Elementary) and instituted programs for gifted and talented students at three elementary buildings. She also established two themed middle schools (in STEM and environmental science) and the first Early College program in Northwest Indiana. Throughout her tenure, she worked collaboratively with partners in higher education, business, and industry to realign programs and curricula to support students and meet workforce needs, including the creation of a Compressed Air Academy at Michigan City High School. She was also instrumental in the district’s establishment of the Little Wolves Early Learning Center for PreK students.
Previously, Dr. Eason-Watkins was chief education officer of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). She was appointed to this post in 2001 by then chief executive officer Arne Duncan, who later served as the U.S. Secretary of Education. As the lead curriculum and instruction strategist for the third-largest school district in the nation, Dr. Eason-Watkins led efforts to reform policies and institute key initiatives to diminish the lingering achievement gap.
Prior to her appointment as CPS chief education officer, Dr. Eason-Watkins was a nationally recognized school principal from the Chicago Woodlawn community. Her vast experience in education includes teaching in Highland Park, Michigan, near her hometown of Detroit. She has spent her entire professional career working with schools, students, teachers, parents, and community members to improve the quality of public education.
Dr. Eason-Watkins has served on the boards of several educational institutions, nonprofits, and community organizations and has received numerous awards for her commitment to education. She was honored by the Northwest Indiana Society of Innovators as both a Fellow and a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
In July 2024, she received the Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest honor bestowed by the Governor of Indiana.
Dr. Eason-Watkins received a bachelor’s degree with honors in Elementary Education from the University of Michigan, a master’s degree in educational administration and supervision from Chicago State University, and a doctorate in education, with a specialty in curriculum and instruction, from Loyola University Chicago.