CEC-DR Council for Exceptional Children Division of Research

The CEC-Division for Research (CEC-DR) was pleased to present the third annual Distinguished Early Career Award to Dr. Patricia G. Mathes at the 2001 CEC Annual Convention in Kansas City. The award of $1,000, co-sponsored by the Donald D. Hammill Foundation, recognizes an individual who has made outstanding scientific contributions, in basic and/or applied research, within the first ten years following completion of the doctoral degree. CEC-DR created this award in recognition of the critical role of research in current and future practice in special education. The award will be given to Dr. Mathes in April at a reception honoring the recipient. CEC-DR's award committee was chaired by Dr. Karen Harris (University of Maryland) and its members were Dr. Marty Kaufman (University of Oregon), ), Dr. Barbara Keogh (UCLA), Dr. Donald MacMillan (UC-Riverside), and Dr. Sam Odom (Indiana University).

Patricia Mathes currently holds the position of Associate Professor at the University of Texas Houston Medical Schools, Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Mathes received her B.S.E. in special education and sociology from Baylor University and later completed a M.Ed. in educational psychology from the University of Houston. She completed the Ph.D. at Vanderbilt University in Education and Human Development in 1992. Upon completing the Ph.D., Dr. Mathes held positions at the George Peabody College and in the John F. Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development at Vanderbilt University. In 1995 she accepted an appointment as Assistant Professor in the College of Education at Florida State University before moving to the University of Texas Houston Medical School in 1999. Dr. Mathes has served as Principal Investigator on a leadership training grant from the U.S. Department of Education and currently is Co-Principal Investigator on two major projects funded by the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development and is a major contributor to a large-scale IERI (Interagency Educational Research Initiative). Project funded by NSF in collaboration with OERI and NICHD.

Dr. Mathes has published over 20 refereed journal articles, six additional chapters and books, and has published curricular materials. She has been a major contributor to the literature in the area of reading. Dr. Mathes has been very active in professional organizations nationally and served in various editorial positions for a number of journals. Dr. Mathes research has employed intense research-based instructional interventions, designed by her, that work in real world classrooms. The interventions have been meticulously prepared and the fidelity with which they are implemented has been monitored carefully.