Kimberly Griffin M.A. ’01, dean of the University of Maryland College of Education, and KerryAnn O'Meara Ph.D. ’00, professor emerita, were among 29 exemplary scholars announced as 2025 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Fellows today.
The AERA Fellows Program honors scholars for their exceptional contributions to, and excellence in, education research. Nominated by their peers, the 2025 Fellows were selected by the Fellows Committee and approved by the AERA Council, the association’s elected governing body. They will be inducted during a ceremony at the 2025 Annual Meeting in Denver on April 24. With this cohort, there will be a total of 791 AERA Fellows, including 13 other scholars from the University of Maryland. AERA is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning.
“The 2025 AERA Fellows join a brilliant group of scholars, and they are most deserving of this honor,” said AERA Executive Director Felice J. Levine. “Their significant contributions to the education research field demonstrate the highest standards of academic excellence and scholarship.”
A self-identified “problem-based researcher,” Griffin pursues research that promotes access, diversity, equity and justice in higher education, with a focus on mentorship, career development, and faculty and graduate student diversity. She recently co-authored the third edition of “On Being a Mentor: A Guide for Higher Education Faculty,” which is considered the definitive guide to mentoring in academia. Griffin’s work has been published in such highly regarded journals as the Review of Higher Education, Journal of College Student Development, Journal of Negro Education and Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, where she also served as editor from 2018 to 2022.
“It’s my hope that my research will contribute to creating more just, equitable and caring environments in higher education where everyone can succeed and feel a sense of belonging,” said Griffin. “It is a special honor to have my research recognized by my fellow education researchers, and I’m proud to receive this designation alongside my colleague Dr. O’Meara and so many other outstanding scholars.”
Griffin has been recognized as one of the most influential education scholars in the United States for four consecutive years through Education Week’s RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. She has also received the Promising Scholar/Early Career Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education (2013) and multiple awards from the American College Personnel Association, including the Diamond Honoree Award (2020), Outstanding Mentor to Graduate Students Award (2018) and as one of the organization’s Emerging Scholars (2010).
O’Meara now serves as vice president of academic affairs and provost of Teachers College, Columbia University. She has studied academic careers and reward systems for more than 25 years, designing and studying strategies to embed transparency, clarity, fairness, credit and context in hiring, retention, workload and evaluation policies and practices. Drawing on insights from organizational behavior, higher education research and behavioral economics, she seeks to create more equitable workplaces. At UMD, she served as director of the ADVANCE Program for Inclusive Excellence, professor of higher education and special assistant to the provost for strategic initiatives. Her recent research has been published in the American Educational Research Journal, Journal of Higher Education, Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, and the Handbook on Higher Education Research.
“Since becoming a scholar, I have been committed to work that advances full participation. I have wanted to know how we can create more inclusive academic communities for faculty and graduate students through our policies, practices, cultures and recognition systems,” said O’Meara. “I am so honored to receive the AERA Fellow designation alongside Dean Griffin, whose engaged scholarship and leadership have been a source of inspiration and wisdom for me for many years.”
O’Meara was named an American Council on Education Fellow (2021-2022) and served as president of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (2020). UMD honored her as a Distinguished Scholar Teacher (2021), Outstanding Woman of the Year (2013) and a Graduate Mentor of the Year (2012).
She has received an Early Career Research Award from the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (2008) and an Emerging Leader Award from the National Society for Experiential Education (1998).
