The American Educational Research Association (AERA) has announced that Professor Erica Walker is a 2022 AERA Fellow. The AERA Fellows Program honors exemplary education scholars for their excellence in research.
AERA Fellows are nominated by their peers, selected by the Fellows Committee, and approved by the AERA Council, making the selection process especially rigorous. AERA describes the purpose of its fellows program as being a way to “honor education researchers with substantial research accomplishments, to convey the Association’s commitment to excellence in research, and to enable the next generation of emerging scholars to appreciate the value of sustained achievements in research and the breadth of scholarship worthy of recognition.” This year’s class of fellows will be inducted during the AERA 2022 Annual Meeting in San Diego, California this April.
Dr. Walker is the Clifford Upton Brewster Professor of Mathematical Education and the Director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education, as well as the previous MST Department Chair at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has been a faculty member at TC since 2002, after receiving a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2001 and completing a postdoctoral fellowship at TC during the 2001-02 school year. Dr. Walker’s research focuses on social and cultural factors, as well as educational policies and practices, that facilitate mathematics engagement, learning, and performance, especially for underserved students. In addition, she is the author of two books: Building Mathematics Learning Communities: Improving Outcomes in Urban High Schools (TC Press, 2012) and Beyond Banneker: Black Mathematicians and the Paths to Excellence (SUNY Press, 2014).
In addition to her numerous research accomplishments, Dr. Walker is a dedicated advisor, colleague, mentor, teacher, and friend to many of us in the MST Department and across TC. This honor is well-earned, and we are lucky to work with Dr. Walker!