Mary Lynne Calhoun
Honoree:
Mary Lynne Calhoun
Submitted By:
UNC Charlotte Cabinet Members
Consummate Educator
In her Philosophy of Teaching, Dean Mary Lynne Calhoun states: “Education is a gift human beings give one another, and that gift enables persons to transform and be transformed by society. I bring to education an activist perspective built on the beliefs that every person has the capacity to learn and grow and that every person deserves the opportunity to develop to his/her optimal capacity…. I strive to be a leader who listens, who appreciates, who encourages, and who serves as a catalyst for positive change.”
Dr. Calhoun began teaching in 1968 in the Cincinnati Public Schools as what is now called a lateral entry teacher, and has taught children with special needs in Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, and South Carolina. In 1982 she became a member of the UNC Charlotte faculty, and was named Dean of the College of Education in 2000. As Dean, she administers a program where more than 3,000 students are preparing for education careers at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Her research focuses on early intervention to support the development of children with disabilities, the internationalization of teacher education, and effective teacher education for urban schools. She is the author of four books and more than fifty articles in her field of special education.
Early in her deanship, she supported the growth of graduate education offerings by guiding the College’s first Ph.D. programs, in Counseling and in Special Education, through the campus and Board of Governor’s approval processes. She worked with faculty, staff, students, architects and planners to build an Education Building that would reflect the values of the College and offer the best teacher education program possible.
The quality of UNC Charlotte’s teacher education programs was underscored in spring 2006 through rigorous and highly positive reviews from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Continuing reaccreditation until 2012 had been received from NCATE for the teacher education programs without a single suggestion for improvement. NCATE requested permission to put UNC Charlotte’s Institutional Report on its website as a national model. Dr. Calhoun was thoroughly involved in creating and upholding the expectations and support structures for the College to garner this recognition.
Dr. Calhoun is committed to the success of alumni of the College of Education and inservice teachers. When new teachers in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools needed courses for certification, she led the way in establishing programs to guarantee that no teacher would be turned away. She champions responsive and responsible outreach to lateral entry teachers, and guided the implementation of a Master of Arts in Teaching program and the establishment of Professional Development Schools.
She expanded efforts to improve the quality of life for students including welcoming events, rituals to celebrate milestones such as Admission to Teacher Education, a Teacher Education Learning Community, and fostering a community of support for doctoral students
Under her leadership, the College has become a model in promoting diversity. The number of faculty from underrepresented groups has greatly increased, attention has been given to the growing Latino population, and multicultural issues have been built into the curriculum.
In summer 2010, the College of Education was selected to be a site of a Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School, providing a literacy-rich program for children impacted by poverty while providing an exemplary summer learning experience for teacher education candidates. The School became one offew sites in the country housed on a university campus.
Dean Calhoun has always worked extraordinarily hard to serve the state and the local community and to advocate for professional teacher education and to highlight the work of her colleagues. Recent professional and community service contributions include the State Board of Education Select Committee on Lateral Entry; Board of Directors, United Way of Central Carolina; North Carolina Principal Fellows Commission; Board of Directors, ArtsTeach; and Board of Directors, Socrates Academy Public Charter School.
Through her work as a teacher and leader she has inspired students to become teachers and touched the lives of thousands of children. Her life’s goal has been “a great teacher for every child.”