Winners

The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education recognizes innovators who unleash human potential through technology, methodology, and leadership. Since its creation, more than 100 remarkable leaders in all fields of education have been recognized and celebrated, many of whom continue to play transformative roles today.

2022 Prize Winners 

PreK-12 Education

Cheryl Logan

Superintendent of Omaha Public Schools

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Cheryl Logan

Superintendent of Omaha Public Schools

Cheryl Logan’s innovative leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and her commitment to providing opportunities for students to achieve at their highest potential embody the essence of the McGraw Prize. As superintendent of Omaha Public Schools, Logan confronted the COVID-19 pandemic with remarkable creativity and courage. Recognizing the importance of keeping kids in environments where they can thrive and learn, she was determined to open Omaha schools safely so that children could return to in-person schooling. To ensure a safe learning and working environment, Logan led the Omaha Public Schools through a groundbreaking SARS-CoV-2 testing pilot study with the University of Nebraska Medical Center to explore how COVID-19 could affect the health and safety of students and staff. As one of the first large urban school districts to return to in-person learning in 2020, Omaha provided other districts with screening and surveillance strategies to detect infectious diseases in schools. A hallmark of Logan’s K–12 leadership is her commitment to nurturing cross-sector relationships, and then leveraging them to expand higher education and career opportunities for students—especially students who have the least access to opportunity. Before becoming superintendent in Omaha, Logan served as Chief Academic Officer at the School District of Philadelphia, where she developed a vision for college- and career-readiness built on sector-spanning relationships. Under her leadership, the District partnered with the Community College of Philadelphia to establish the first high school in Pennsylvania where students are able to earn a high school diploma and an associate’s degree by the time they graduate. Logan’s innovative thinking also led to the creation of the Education Scholars Program with Temple University that also offered industry certifications through an Urban Agriculture Entrepreneurship with Fox Chase Farms, and an Information Technology and Electronics internship with Comcast. As the daughter of an educator and the mother of an educator, Logan is a passionate advocate for developing future educators in Nebraska and has created several initiatives to enhance and support the teacher pipeline.

Higher Education

Barry Dunn

President of South Dakota State University

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Barry Dunn

President of South Dakota State University

Barry Dunn’s strategic leadership to expand higher education access for Native American communities exemplifies both the democratic principle of equity and Harold W. McGraw, Jr.’s belief in the power of education to elevate human potential. As President of South Dakota State University (SDSU), Dunn has been transformational in improving college access, retention and graduation or Native Americans. The centerpiece of these efforts is the Wokini Initiative (Wokini means “new beginning” in Lakota) to increase programming and support for people enrolled in South Dakota’s nine tribal nations. Acknowledging that the land given to South Dakota by the federal government in 1889 to support its land grant university had previously been promised to the tribes in broken treaties, Dunn designated annual resources to benefit the heirs from whom the land was taken. SDSU used this sustainable revenue stream to hire American Indian faculty and staff, improve student advising and counseling, develop culturally relevant programs, and build an American Indian Student Center in the heart of campus. Just as importantly, Dunn, who is an enrolled tribal member of the Sicangu Lakota, improved outreach to tribes, tribal colleges, and tribal organizations in an effort to rebuild trust with tribal leaders, and he raised nearly $20 million for scholarship endowments for Native Americans. Under Dunn’s leadership, the university has seen dramatically improved enrollment and retention of students who self-identify as American Indian. Dunn’s innovations set a course for change at the national level. With Dunn’s advocacy, the U.S. Congress created The New Beginnings for Tribal Students Grant Program as part of the 2018 Farm Bill and appropriated $5 million annually. In just two years, New Beginnings for Tribal Students grants have funded $20 million with their 1:1 match to 22 land grant universities and tribal colleges to support programs similar to those initiated by Dunn at SDSU.

Learning Science Research

Roy Pea

David Jacks Professor of Education & Learning Sciences at Stanford University, School of Education, and Computer Science (Courtesy)

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Roy Pea

David Jacks Professor of Education & Learning Sciences at Stanford University, School of Education, and Computer Science (Courtesy)

A pioneer in learning sciences research, Roy Pea has been instrumental in pulling back the curtain on how and why people learn. Throughout his career he has used these insights to develop practical tools and techniques, theoretical principles, and researcher and educator training programs and partnerships to enhance learning for people of all backgrounds and circumstances. The spirit of innovation, impact, and leadership that the McGraw Prize celebrates is a throughline in Pea’s unparalleled body of work. At Stanford University, Pea has been Director of the H-STAR Institute (Human Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research), and Co-Director and Co-PI (Principal-Investigator) of the NSF-funded LIFE Center (Learning in Informal and Formal Environments), which develops and tests principles of the social foundations of human learning with the goal of enhancing human learning from infancy to adulthood. Initially interested in child language and cognitive development, he later turned to understanding how innovations in computing and communications technology influence learning, thinking, collaboration, and educational systems. His early work examined whether programming increased problem-solving skills. He then introduced the idea of distributed intelligence, clarified the notion of scaffolding, and developed visualization technologies. Pea’s impact is vast. He has built training programs at universities in learning technology and design, created research partnerships, and developed professional development programs for teachers and K-12 learning technologies. From 2004 to 2005, he was President of the International Society for the Learning Sciences. Pea is co-editor of Learning Analytics in Education (2018), co-editor of Video Research in the Learning Sciences (2007), and co-author of the National Academy of Sciences book How People Learn (2000). He is co-author of the 2010 National Education Technology Plan for the U.S. Department of Education. The first in his family to attend college, Pea is a testament to the role of education to elevate human potential.