In November 2020, SOE Dean Michelle Young’s co-authored research paper, “Leadership Matters: Preparation Program Quality and Learning Outcomes,” was selected for the 2020 Emerald Literati Awards as an Outstanding Paper of the year. The awards are administered by Emerald Publishing, a leading digital aggregator for academic research papers in education. The paper reported the results of a study that assessed the effectiveness of educational leadership preparation programs in training their graduates.
That same month, Dean Young also received The Jay D. Scribner Mentoring Award from the University Council for Educational Administration, where she’d been executive director for 19 years prior to joining LMU. The award honors faculty who’ve made substantive contributions to the field by mentoring the next generation of students into roles as university research professors, while also recognizing the important roles that mentors play. Young studied under Scribner, for whom the award is named, as a graduate student at the University of Texas-Austin. The Scribner nominating committee commended her for exemplifying the award’s selection criteria.
“Young is a beacon in our field,” the committee wrote. “Her mentoring… develops the knowledge and skills of others to navigate their careers, and shines a light on areas that have fundamentally made us a stronger and more diverse field.” Among other accomplishments, they noted the numerous professional opportunities she fostered for students from underrepresented groups in the broader network of scholars in and beyond UCEA. At SOE, Young has already built upon this work by spearheading the formation of a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Action Committee, and by tapping SOE professor William Perez, Ph.D., as the school’s inaugural associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The recent accolades further cement Dean Young’s reputation as a transformative figure in the field of educational leadership and administration. “I’m humbled to have received both of these honors,” says Young. “Throughout my career I’ve learned from wonderful mentors, and in turn have also learned from the people I’ve mentored. I’ve been having the same experience at LMU thus far. And I’m excited to be at SOE during a time of significant cultural changes not only in education but also in our world at large.”