UCO Professor Named 2025 Medal of Excellence Recipient by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence
Jan. 30, 2025
The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence (OFE) recently named University of Central Oklahoma Professor April Haulman, Ph.D., as a recipient of the 2025 Medal of Excellence in Regional University Teaching. Haulman is one of only five educators in the state to receive this award.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to celebrate these five impactful educators,” said Elizabeth Inbody, OFE executive director.
“Each year, we have the honor of awarding one of the state’s most prestigious teaching awards to educators who do great things for our Oklahoma public school students and communities. We hope their passion and innovation will inspire and encourage others in their support of public education.”
For 50 years, Haulman has served Oklahoma families and communities as a leader and advocate in bilingual and multicultural education. She has taught at UCO since 1983 and is a faculty member in the UCO College of Education and Professional Studies Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Haulman also serves as co-coordinator of the university’s Bilingual Education/Teaching English as a Second Language Program.
She has secured more than $9 million in grants for Central to provide educational programming targeting teachers, and she was instrumental in establishing UCO’s Multicultural Education Institute, an annual professional development conference.
Haulman helped found the Oklahoma Association of Bilingual Education. She has served as the organization’s president and in other leadership positions.
In addition to numerous awards from UCO, Haulman has received the Oklahoma Human Rights Commission’s Human Rights Award and the Professional of the Year award from Oklahoma Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages.
“Ultimately, the goal of education is not merely the transfer of knowledge but the cultivation of engaged, thoughtful citizens capable of navigating and contributing to a complex world,” Haulman said.
OFE will honor the Medal for Excellence recipients at the 39th annual Academic Awards Celebration Saturday, May 10, at the Oklahoma City Convention Center. Each recipient will receive a $5,000 cash prize and an etched glass “Roots and Wings” sculpture.
For more information about the College of Education and Professional Studies, visit uco.edu/ceps.
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Cutline: The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence recently named University of Central Oklahoma Professor April Haulman, Ph.D., as a recipient of the 2025 Medal of Excellence in Regional University Teaching. OFE will honor Haulman and the four other Medal for Excellence recipients at the 39th annual Academic Awards Celebration Saturday, May 10, at the Oklahoma City Convention Center.
Deirdre Steiner