Faculty

Faculty

Overview

Group photo of UC Davis School of Education FacultyThe faculty at the School of Education are committed to bridging research and practice for the benefit of schools and learners. They do their work in a collaborative and cross-disciplinary environment that favors innovation and cooperation with all segments of education.

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Matt Wallace Appointed Associate Professor of Teaching in Education

Portrait of Matt WallaceDr. Matt Wallace has been appointed Associate Professor of Teaching in Education as of July 2023. Wallace graduated from UC Davis with a BS in psychology and a minor in math, earned his teaching credential and MA at San Francisco State University, taught in high schools in the Elk Grove and Washington Unified school districts for eight years, and then returned to UC Davis for his PhD in mathematics education.

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Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica Joins School of Education Faculty

This summer, the School of Education welcomed new faculty member Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica as an Associate Professor of Teaching in Education and the Spanish Bilingual Authorization Coordinator. She comes to UC Davis after eight years as an associate professor of teacher education at Santa Clara University, and a previous role as a Senior Researcher at nonprofit Education Northwest in Portland, Ore.

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Nancy Tseng appointed Associate Professor of Teaching in Education

Portrait of Nancy TsengDr. Nancy Tseng, formerly a Lecturer/Supervisor in the School of Education’s Multiple Subject Credential Program, has been appointed Associate Professor of Teaching in Education as of July 2023. She will continue to serve as the coordinator of the School’s Mandarin Bilingual Authorization Program. “I’m excited that in this new role, I can continue to focus centrally on the teaching and mentoring of teaching credential candidates and MA students,” she said.

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Alicia Rusoja Joins School of Education Faculty

Dr. Alicia Rusoja joined the School of Education faculty as an assistant professor in July 2022. She studies the literacy, teaching and learning practices of Latinx immigrants organizing for their own and others’ human rights. Among other research projects, Rusoja is in the second year of a five-year study on the impact of COVID-19 on the educational, literacy and organizing practices of Latinx immigrants in South Philadelphia.

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Yianella Blanco Joins School of Education Faculty

Dr. Yianella Blanco joined the faculty of the School of Education as an assistant professor in July 2022 in the language, literacy and culture emphasis area. Blanco earned her bachelor’s degree in History at University of Massachusetts–Amherst and her two master’s degrees at Long Island University–Brooklyn and Teachers College, Columbia University, before returning to Columbia for her PhD in social studies education.

Post Danny C. Martinez
Portrait of Danny C. Martinez

Danny C. Martinez Named Chancellor’s Fellow

Associate professor and noted scholar of Black and Latinx language and literacy practices Danny C. Martinez joined a select cohort of faculty as a 2021-22 Chancellor’s Fellow.

The Chancellor’s Fellow program awards $25,000 in funding to outstanding faculty who are helping to solve complex and pressing problems.

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Portrait of Megan Welsh

Megan Welsh Becomes Sixth Chancellor’s Fellow from School of Education

School of Education Associate Professor Megan Welsh has been named a 2019­–2020 UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellow, a title she will hold for the next five years. The Chancellor’s Fellows Program recognizes associate professors or recently promoted full professors who produce groundbreaking scholarly work and serve the university as dedicated teachers and campus citizens. It is one of the most prestigious honors conferred on faculty members at UC Davis.

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Elizabeth Montaño portrait

New Faculty Spotlight: Elizabeth Montaño

Elizabeth Montaño, EdD returned to the School of Education last year as an Associate Professor of Teaching in Education. She is the first in the School’s history to hold this new teaching professorship title. Montaño previously served as a Lecturer and Supervisor of Teacher Education from 2013–2015. Now she primarily teaches in the CANDEL and undergraduate minor programs. In Fall 2019 she will become the Co-Director of CANDEL, alongside Prof. Kevin Gee. Their duties will include reviewing the sequencing of CANDEL courses and faculty advising models.

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Portrait of Lee Martin and Gary May

Lee Martin Named a Chancellor’s Fellow

Fifth School of Education Researcher Honored in Consecutive Years

Lee Martin, associate professor of education, has been selected as a 2017-18 UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellow, a title he will hold for five years.

Post Michal Kurlaender

Michal Kurlaender Named Influential Education Researcher for Third Year in a Row

Professor Michal Kurlaender continues to be one of the leading university-based scholars who are doing the most to influence educational policy and practice in the United States. This is the third consecutive year that she has been included in the RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings published in Education Week.

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Portrait of Maisha T. Winn and Lawrence Winn

Maisha T. Winn and Lawrence Winn Join School of Education

Will Establish a Center for Restorative Justice

This summer the School of Education welcomed Maisha T. Winn, PhD and Lawrence (Torry) Winn, JD to the School of Education. Maisha T. Winn has been appointed as a Professor, and the UC Davis Chancellor and Provost additionally have extended her the new honorary designation of “Chancellor’s Leadership Professor.” Torry Winn will serve as an Academic Administrator. The Winns, who are married, will jointly develop a center for restorative justice to be located within the School of Education.

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Portrait of Nicole Sparapani

Nicole Sparapani Joins Faculty

Nicole Sparapani, PhD joined the School of Education faculty this summer as an Assistant Professor in Early Childhood Education. Sparapani, who earned her doctorate in Communication Science and Disorders at Florida State University, is a certified speech-language pathologist. She completed her postdoctoral studies on individualizing student instruction at Arizona State University and the Institute for the Science of Teaching and Learning.

General information

Faculty Awards and Honors

Rebecca Ambrose

  • University of California, Davis Award for Excellence in Service to Graduate Students (2015)
  • Markham Mathematics Collaborative, Improving Teacher Quality Grant from California Post-Secondary Education Commission (2006)
  • Scholarship and Creativity Award.

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