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The title of Distinguished Professor at the University of Florida is an esteemed honor reserved for those who have demonstrated an exceptional record of achievement both nationally and internationally across the areas of teaching, public service, scholarship and publication.
Recently, Mary Brownell, professor of Special Education, was awarded the rare title. Brownell is only the eighth College of Education professor to receive this distinction.
“Dr. Brownell’s commitment to the fields of teacher education and special education are unparalleled,” said College of Education Dean Glenn Good. “She is a widely recognized national and international leader whose contributions to the many facets of teacher preparation have transformed the landscape of learning for students with disabilities. Dr. Brownell is a highly respected advocate for advancing the field and providing optimal opportunities for all students to succeed.”
Brownell has influenced the fields of teacher education and special education for more than 40 years, although she believes her teaching career started much earlier in life.
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Mary Brownell
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“I think my profession began before I realized it because I was being asked to help my fellow students learn before I had any formal preparation to be a teacher,” she said.
Compelled to serve youth and adolescents with disabilities, Brownell became a special education teacher working for several years both in the classroom as well as a juvenile detention center.
“I was drawn to the students and wanted them to be able to succeed more than they currently were, and I was concerned about how others saw them—that they didn’t see their potential, always,” she said.
Intrinsic to Brownell is a desire to cultivate the potential within every student. As she transitioned her career into higher education at UF, this commitment has remained at the heart of her teaching and has served as the guiding compass of her scholarship.
As a special educator herself who left the classroom, she has dedicated her research to understanding how to better prepare and better support educators and reduce teacher attrition. She has worked tirelessly to strengthen the preparation of special and general education teachers to ensure they are equipped with the knowledge, training and tools to provide exemplary instruction to all students, and particularly students with disabilities.
“I left, and so I reflected on that myself and what it would take to keep good people in these positions that were devoted to students with disabilities,” she said. I could see that when teachers were devoted like that, students, who other people didn’t have high hopes for, really progressed and you know surprised everyone.”
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Brownell has garnered more than $64.9 million in federal funding to support her work and has received numerous awards in recognition of her teaching, leadership and scholarship. Currently, she serves as the director of the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability and Reform (CEEDAR) Center and the co-director of the National Center to Inform Policy and Practice in Special Education Professional Development (NCIPP).
Brownell credits the CEEDAR Center, which specializes in improving the preparation of teachers and school leaders to serve students with disabilities, as one of her greatest accomplishments because it has amplified the impact of her work, as well as the work of her colleagues, to reach greater cadres of educators and school leaders.
“I think I’m most proud of CEEDAR. My colleagues and I have been able to work with teams of leaders from state departments of education and colleges of education across the country. And, we have been able to help states make impressive changes to how they prepare and develop teachers and leaders. None of us could achieve this sort of impact as individuals,” she said.
Brownell was unanimously supported by the college, her department and her colleagues to receive the title of Distinguished Professor.
“Dr. Brownell is one of the most reputable scholars in teacher education and special education,” said Erica McCray, associate professor of Special Education and director of the School of Special Education, School Psychology, and Early Childhood Studies (SESPECS). “One of her external reviewers asserted, “across the field of special education, Dr. Mary Brownell is recognized as a visionary scholar in the top echelon of our field.
“She has secured multi-million-dollar grants from federal-funding agencies to support research, personnel and leadership preparation, and technical assistance to the field. Dr. Brownell is recognized by UF’s Division of Sponsored Programs as one of the “Top 10 most prolific grant funded researches.” I am inspired by Dr. Brownell’s contributions to SESPECS and to education at large.”
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Learning of the nomination, Brownell shared she was overwhelmed by the resounding support and feels grateful that her peers recognize the value of her work. But more than anything, Brownell shared she is looking forward to seeing her colleagues garner the same recognition for their hard work.
“I think the research and the work that we do as educators is some of the most challenging and important work that needs to be done, and so I’m looking forward, because I have some very talented colleagues, to seeing them promoted to Distinguished Professor,” she said.
Past Distinguished Professor awardees from the College of Education include: Patricia Snyder, one of the world’s most respected voices in the field of early childhood studies; Paul Sindelar, regarded as world renowned for research in the special education teacher labor market and its implications for policy makers and teacher educators; Paul George, known as one of the founders of the middle school movement; Cecil Mercer, a giant in his field during his 31-year tenure on the COE special education faculty; Joe Wittmer, former chair of the Counselor Education department for 18 of his 37 years with the college; James Wattenbarger, was known widely as the “father of Florida’s community college system” after his dissertation was used as a system blueprint in the late 1950s; and Mary Budd Rowe, a science education professor who spent 24 years on the COE faculty, was a former UF Teacher of the Year.
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