COE Prof Steven Klees Honored with Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award
Monday, June 22, 2020
The University of Maryland has selected COE Professor Steven Klees as a recipient of the Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award. The prestigious award honors only a few faculty members each year and is based on faculty success and accomplishments in teaching and research.
“I’m surprised, pleased, and honored that I got it,” Dr. Klees said. “I think my teaching is as important as my research. I very much appreciate the award.”
Dr. Klees, professor in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education, and Special Education (CHSE), specializes in the field of comparative international education and global education policy. His focus includes education and economic issues related to international development, especially inequality, marginalization, racism, poverty and environmental destruction. He has worked in countries around the world and collaborated with numerous international agencies.
In nominating Dr. Klees for the Distinguished-Scholar Teacher Award, UCLA colleague and Distinguished Professor Carlos Alberto Torres noted Dr. Klees’ dedication to the field.
“Steve Klees’ research has made a difference in the new intellectual generations working in this multidiscipline of international and comparative education,” Dr. Torres wrote.
Currently, Dr. Klees is writing a book chapter summarizing four decades of work on issues in education and international development policies. Along with colleagues, academics and activists, he’s also collaborating on The Alternatives Project, an international initiative to critique global education and development policies and examine possible alternatives.
Moreover, Dr. Klees is working with COE colleagues, including Dean Jennifer King Rice, on a 4-year, $1 million grant from the Spencer Foundation to evaluate the cumulative inequalities in educational investments in children from birth to age 21 in the United States. The project will examine investment inequalities by race, class and gender.
Dr. Klees has been with COE for 20 years, and played a critical role in forwarding the college’s mission during that time. For instance, he has been instrumental in developing the International Education Policy (IEP) program, which offers M.A. and PhD degrees in the field of comparative and international education. Dr. Klees is particularly grateful for the colleagues and students he has had the opportunity to work with.
“I’ve had great faculty colleagues throughout those 20 years and amazing students,” Dr. Klees said.
The Distinguished-Scholar Teacher Award comes with a $5,000 honorarium, which Dr. Klees will distribute among his research endeavors. As part of the award, Dr. Klees will give a public presentation on his work in the fall.
“This is an incredible award and recognition for Professor Klees and his scholarship, teaching, and tireless work within the IEP program and internationally,” said William Ming Liu, professor and CHSE chair.
