Alumni & Giving

Michael J. Martirano '81, M.Ed. '85, M.Ed '92: Started his career as a middle school teacher in Prince George’s County where he was selected as the 1993 Outstanding Science Teacher for the State of Maryland. He then went on to serve as a school administrator for eight years before becoming a district administrator in Montgomery County and then Howard County. Since 2005 this alumni has been honored to serve as the superintendent of St. Mary’s County Public Schools, the State Superintendent of West Virginia Public Schools and was the superintendent of Howard County Public Schools. Throughout his career he has focused on positive change for students or as one of his nominators’ put it his work has been focused on “putting equity into action and building restorative cultures as the core principles of his strategy for increasing engagement and achievement, narrowing gaps among student groups and ensuring nurturing, inclusive and safe learning environments”.  Michael is now a Senior Fellow for the Center for Digital Education. 

Alana Murray '98, Ph.D.'12:  is currently the Director at MCPS and was the former principal at Shady Grove Middle School in Montgomery County and the co-coordinator of the Equity and Excellence certificate program at McDaniel College. Dr. Murray is also an author, and in 2019 she published the book, "The Development of the Alternative Black Curriculum, 1890-1940: Countering the Master Narrative.". She has contributed to the the College of Education community through her fieldwork and volunteerism. Dr. Murray has served as a mentor teacher within the department of Social Studies and upon leaving the classroom has continued to support interns through their placements and by volunteering in the College of Education as a school based expert.  

Elizabeth Stuart Whitehead '98, Ed.D.'24: received her undergraduate degree form the college in 1998 and  her doctorate at the college in 2024. She served as an elementary art teacher and content specialist for art, theater and dance for Montgomery County Public Schools before serving in her current position as the Visual Art Instructional Supervisor at Prince George’s County Public Schools. She has co-authored two books on the uses of art to teach reading and writing. Recently, she received the Gilbert A. Clark & Enid Zimmerman Leadership and Advocacy Award from the National Art Education Association.

Justin Van Fleet Ph.D.'11: graduated with a Ph.D. in international education policy from the University of Maryland in 2011. He is the President of the global children's charity Theirworld and CEO of the Global Business Coalition for Education. He previously served as the Director of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity and Chief of Staff to the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown where the landmark “Learning Generation” report put forward a pathway to finance and deliver the ambitions of Sustainable Development Goal 4 – inclusive and equitable quality education for all. He has been a passionate advocate for financing education, playing an instrumental role in the establishment of the Education Cannot Wait Fund for education in emergencies and the new International Finance Facility for Education.

David Edwards Ph.D.'14: graduated with a Ph.D. in International Education Policy from UMD in 2014. He is currently the General Secretary for Education International in Belgium. Before this he served as the Deputy General Secretary for 6 years where he would Develop, oversee, and promote EI policies on education, employment and its research agenda globally and across all five regions. He would also represent the teaching profession globally through active engagement on the Boards of the Global Partnership for Education, the Education for All Steering Committee as well as the steering committee of the International Summits on the Teaching Profession. 

Norka Padilla '87: Norka Padilla has served as a changemaker through her work with Montgomery County Public Schools in supporting Emergent Multilingual Learners. Norka’s work has demonstrated significant growth in students’ performance by  providing on-going professional development for school teachers and leaders to ensure they were equipped to meet the needs of students. Through her current work with the MCPS International Admissions and Enrollment Office, Norka has lead in the use of an Antiracist and Trauma Responsive Approach, which is grounded in principles that guide her team to providing the best care and service to families navigating the enrollment process.

Lisa Smith ' 05: Lisa is known in Frederick County for her success in building a strong leadership team that creates a focused and comprehensive high school improvement plan addressing reducing chronic absenteeism, increasing student enrollment and completing Advance Placement, Dual Enrollment, and Career and Technical Education programs. As the principal of two high needs and highly diverse high schools, Lisa has built in both schools an expectation to not only providing access and opportunity for the most vulnerable students in her school, but also creating the provisions and structures in place to ensure student success in the programs. Lisa Smith earned a Bachelor’s degree in History and in Secondary Education Social Studies from the University of Maryland in 2005 and currently serves as principal of Tuscarora High School, a diverse and large high school in Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland.