The Neag School of Education honored several faculty and staff on May 2 with its annual awards recognizing research, teaching, and service. In March, the Neag School’s Dean’s Office solicited nominations from current students, faculty, and staff and presented the awards at the end-of-year School Meeting. The 2025 award recipients are:

Dr. Perry A. Zirkel Distinguished Teaching Award – Adam McCready

The Zirkel Distinguished Teaching Award is awarded annually to a full-time faculty member in the Neag School. Alumnus Perry A. Zirkel ’68 MA, ’72 Ph.D., ’76 JD is a university professor emeritus of education and law at Lehigh University, where he formerly was dean of the College of Education and more recently held the Iacocca Chair in Education. The 2025 award recipient is Adam McCready, an assistant professor-in-residence in the Department of Educational Leadership since 2019.

McCready is a faculty member for the Neag School’s Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) Master of Arts program. His research critically examines the college student experience to identify and challenge oppressive educational structures. He has studied students’ experiences in historically white college social fraternities; college men and masculinities; and the relationship between social media use and students’ attitudes, behaviors, and experiences. His research has been published in Psychology of Men & Masculinities, Research in Higher Education, Innovative Higher Education, Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, and the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice. McCready serves as the editor for the Journal of Sorority and Fraternity Life Research and Practice, and previously served as the vice chair for scholarship and research for the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Coalition on Men and Masculinities.

McCready exemplifies excellence in teaching through his unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in the classroom. Since joining the HESA program, McCready has taught diverse core courses, skillfully blending rich scholarship with professional experience. A reflective educator, he thoughtfully incorporates material centering minoritized students and engages in critical conversations about race, gender, sexuality, and disability to better prepare future higher education leaders.

In Spring 2022, McCready introduced an innovative “ungrading” philosophy, focusing on feedback and reflection rather than numerical scores. This humanizing approach has strengthened student learning while influencing fellow faculty members to rethink their evaluation methods. Known for his flexibility, McCready proactively seeks student feedback and adjusts his courses to meet learners’ evolving needs.

His thoughtful course preparation, creativity, and deep investment in student success have earned him high student evaluation scores and recognition from UConn and the Neag School’s administration. Students and colleagues alike commend his relational, scholar-practitioner model of teaching.

Distinguished Researcher Award – Sandra Chafouleas

This award is given to a full professor in the Neag School who, over at least the last 10-year period (at least five consecutive completed years at UConn), has made significant research contributions to their field of study. This year’s recipient is Sandra Chafouleas, a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology.

Chafouleas is also the Neag Endowed Professor and the founder and co-director of the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health (CSCH). Chafouleas focuses on supporting school system implementation of evidence-informed practices and is known for her expertise in areas of integrated health and learning (whole child), school mental health, and social, emotional, and behavioral assessment and intervention.

As a principal investigator and co-principal investigator, Chafouleas has secured over $20 million to support research, service, and training activities through the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and private foundations. Chafouleas has successfully built and led multidisciplinary and multisite teams in tackling issues in the social, emotional, and behavioral functioning of children across pre-K-12 settings. She currently serves as multiple principal investigator on an NIH-funded U24 Network to advance the science of emotional well-being, leading the measurement, training, and mentorship of emerging scholars. Many individuals, including junior faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and students, have benefited from her research team’s leadership as collaborators on research publications, presentations, and grants.

Chafouleas is also the co-creator of the award-winning Feel Your Best Self program, a free and fun toolkit that teaches 12 simple coping strategies to promote emotion regulation. The program has won numerous awards, including one Gold and three Silver Telly awards. She has authored over 200 publications, which have been cited more than 11,000 times, and regularly serves as a national presenter and invited speaker.

She is a fellow in the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. She has received multiple recognitions, including a 2022 Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association and selection as the 2023 Reed Fellow at UConn Waterbury. Chafouleas previously served as associate dean for The Graduate School (2012-2014) and the associate dean for research at the Neag School (2014-2016). Prior to becoming a university trainer, she worked as a school psychologist and school administrator in a variety of settings supporting the needs of children with behavior disorders.

Outstanding Early-Career Scholar Award – Zachary Collier

This award is given to a pre-tenured faculty member in the Neag School who has completed at least two consecutive years at UConn. The 2025 recipient is Zachary Collier, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology.

Collier is a leading scholar in educational statistics, causal data mining, and artificial intelligence applications in missing data analysis. His work addresses critical methodological challenges in education, public health, and special education, with research published in top-tier journals such as Structural Equation Modeling, Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, and Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness.

Collier has received significant external funding from major agencies, including a $3.1 million NIH grant, a $2.9 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, and awards from the Spencer and James S. McDonnell foundations. In 2025, he was named an Emerging Scholar by Diverse Issues in Higher Education and was a featured mathematician by the Network for Minorities in Mathematical Sciences. That same year, he was appointed as grant reviewer for the IES.

Beyond his research, Collier is a dedicated educator and mentor known for fostering inclusive, collaborative learning environments. He teaches foundational and advanced courses in statistics and data science and actively supports graduate student development through co-authored research. A staunch advocate for equity in quantitative research, he contributes to initiatives like the InclusiMetrics Conference and is recognized for advancing justice-oriented approaches through QuantCrit and data sensitivity methods.

Valerie J. Pichette Outstanding Staff Award – Diane Herlihy and Christine North

Named in honor of the late Valerie J. Pichette, this award recognizes an individual or individuals who have gone above and beyond in their work at the Neag School over the past academic year. Pichette had a 30-year history of service to the state of Connecticut, including having served as executive assistant to the Neag School dean for nearly two decades. This year’s recipients are Diane Herlihy and Christine North.

Herlihy, who joined the Neag School in 2019, is the true definition of a team player. She collaborates with faculty, students, and staff to support others within the Neag School and always brings a positive attitude. As a volunteer and an active member of the Community Building Committee, she has been instrumental in the planning and execution of many events throughout the year, including Undergraduate Commencement.

She has taken on the responsibilities of other positions multiple times to fill in for colleagues without hesitation and still ensured her work was not affected. Herlihy is always attentive to staff and student needs and is one of the first people willing to help; she seeks out answers to problems and does it all with a caring and determined attitude.

North, the sole administrative staff person for the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, constantly juggles requests from faculty, students, staff, Neag School administrators, and external stakeholders who call with questions, seek advice, and need help solving problems. She is a stable and calming presence and an essential ingredient in how the department’s business and mission are met.

Since joining the Neag School in 1996, North has been an important member of the School community, helping others solve problems and raising questions and alternative strategies when relevant. She exhibits institutional loyalty, impressive professionalism, initiative, integrity, a willingness to help with everything and anything, and deeply cares for the culture of the Neag School.