Scholars, Journal Recognize Rachel Endo

Dr. Rachel Endo’s commitments to scholarly and community-engaged work on behalf of Asian American and other historically underserved communities are being recognized with two newly-announced awards. Endo serves as the dean of UW Tacoma’s School of Education.

Endo was presented with the 2023 Mary Anne Raywid Award from the Society of Professors of Education during its recent annual meeting in Chicago.

The award honors the late Mary Anne Raywid, professor emerita at Hofstra University and former president of the Society, and “recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the study of education.” Nominators cited Endo’s “anti-racist curricular approaches to teaching Asian American studies in PK-12 and teacher education, and the intersectional experiences of Asian Americans and other BIPOC families, parents, teachers and youth, especially how class, disabilities and gendered realities complexly impact their experiences in K-12 and higher education institutions.”

Endo is also one of 29 recipients of the third-annual Asian Leadership Awards by “Profiles in Diversity Journal.” Honorees represent for-profit and non-profit institutions across all sectors of the economy – Endo is the only university-affiliated leader in this year’s cohort. The publication said Endo is “dedicated to helping to close opportunity gaps for youngsters in K-12 and young adults in higher education. … [S]he is also a diversity leader at her institution.”

“I see these awards as being tied to collective consciousness-raising,” said Endo, “and not about my own individual efforts. Others before me have instrumental in this work. For example, Dr. Geneva Gay, professor emerita in the UW (Seattle) College of Education, and recognized with the Raywid award in 2005, broke ground with her research on African American education and culturally-responsive teaching starting in the 1970s. Dr. Gay’s revolutionary scholarly frameworks have been instrumental in how I understand complex issues of educational access and equity for Asian Americans and other minoritized populations.”

Earlier this year, Endo was the recipient of a 2023 American Educational Research Association Distinguished Researcher Award.