University of Texas at Dallas issued the following announcement on July 9
Katherine Donaldson MAT’93, associate director of the UTeach Dallas program at The University of Texas at Dallas, has received the 2021 Outstanding Master Teacher Award from the UTeach STEM Educators Association.
The association represents 46 UTeach programs at universities across the country that prepare college students to become secondary teachers in science and mathematics.
The honor, awarded at the association’s national conference in June, recognizes demonstrated excellence by UTeach master teachers, who are highly experienced content experts in their fields of instruction and strong, hands-on advocates for best teaching practices and professional development among in-service teachers.
Donaldson has been a master teacher and faculty member in the UT Dallas Department of Science/Mathematics Education in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics since 2009. The department is home to the UTeach Dallas program, through which students earn undergraduate degrees, primarily in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, concurrently with teacher training and certification.
“Being a UTeach master teacher is, at its heart, investing in people who are considering the most important career in the world,” Donaldson said. “UTeach is committed to advancing the future of our nation, one teacher at a time, and I am blessed to be a part of that.”
Donaldson received her bachelor’s degree in zoology from Texas A&M University. While working on a doctorate in cell and molecular biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, she began teaching science as a volunteer at a Dallas-area middle school. That experience spurred her to pursue a career in science teaching. She earned both her Master of Arts in Teaching in science education and her Texas teaching certificate at UT Dallas.
Donaldson spent 10 years in Dallas-area classrooms teaching biology and anatomy and seven years in district instructional support and administration before joining the UT Dallas faculty. Since then she has been involved with UTeach and other science teaching organizations at the local, state and national levels.
“Katie leads our team of master teachers at UT Dallas, and she is active in all aspects of managing the UTeach Dallas program, from fundraising and coordinating with multiple school districts, to overseeing the teacher preparation curriculum and delivering professional development for in-service teachers,” said Dr. Mary Urquhart, associate professor and head of the Department of Science/Mathematics Education, and director of UTeach Dallas. “She’s also innovative in the classes she teaches, including project-based instruction.”
Since 2008 UTeach Dallas has graduated 281 students with science or mathematics certification. All faculty instructors are award-winning master teachers with years of expertise.
“Katie has been an incredible resource not only for our UTeach Dallas program, but also to the many science and mathematics teachers she has trained and mentored throughout North Texas. I’m very proud of her accomplishments,” Urquhart said.
In 2020 Urquhart was chosen as vice president/president elect of the UTeach STEM Educators Association. She assumed the presidency of the organization this month.
Original source can be found here.
