Egalite Receives Young Alumni Award from University of Arkansas

RALEIGH, North Carolina — The University of Arkansas’ College of Education and Health Professions has named Anna Egalite the recipient of its 2017 Outstanding Young Alumni Award. Egalite is an assistant professor in the NC State College of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership, Policy and Human Development.

The Outstanding Young Alumni Award recognizes Egalite’s “exceptional professional and personal achievement and extraordinary distinction in the field of education.”

“I am so humbled to receive this award and grateful to the phenomenal mentors I had at the University of Arkansas,” said Egalite, who completed her Ph.D. in educational policy at the University of Arkansas in 2014. “At each stage of my career, I have been incredibly fortunate to have found experienced and trusted advisers who have supported and encouraged me. Now that I’m at NC State, I’m happy to have found a similar level of collegiality and support among this community of scholars who inspire me to work harder and do better every day.”

Egalite’s research focuses on evaluating the effects of educational policies and programs on student success, particularly on closing racial and economic achievement gaps. Her research has been published in scholarly journals that include Economics of Education Review, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, and Education Next, which selected her article “How Family Background Influences Student Achievement: Can schools narrow the gap” as its top article of 2016.

National news outlets from The New York Times to the Huffington Post have also featured her research. In February, The Atlantic highlighted her research on Louisiana’s voucher program and USA Today reported on her research on teacher diversity.

After completing her Ph.D. at Arkansas and a one-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University, Egalite joined the NC State College of Education faculty in 2015. That same year she received the University of Notre Dame’s Michael Pressley Award for a Promising Scholar in the Education Field.

She earned her Master of Education from the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education and a Bachelor of Education in elementary education and history from St. Patrick’s College in Dublin, Ireland.

The University of Arkansas’ College of Education and Health Professions will officially present the 2017 Outstanding Young Alumni Award to Egalite during its commencement ceremony May 13.