Skip to main content

Search NYU Steinhardt

NYU Steinhardt Faculty Honored with Prestigious Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award

Posted

NYU Steinhardt faculty members María Rosa Brea-Spahn and Heather Woodley have been awarded NYU’s prestigious Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Faculty Award.

The award is presented annually to faculty members at NYU who exemplify King’s spirit through their teaching, public service, leadership, and community-building activities.

Portrait of award recipients

NYU Steinhardt's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Faculty Award-winners, Heather Woodley and Maria Rosa Brea-Spahn (left to right).

María Rosa Brea-Spahn

Maria R. Brea, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is a clinical associate professor and the director of the bilingual extension program in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders. She incorporates service-learning pedagogy in her teaching in order to help students become self-directed learners and create communities where difference is seen as an asset. 

Heather Woodley

Heather Homonoff Woodley is a clinical assistant professor of TESOL, bilingual education and foreign language education. Her teaching, scholarship, and community collaborations focus on anti-racist, creative and critical classrooms, and empowering multilingual families and youth. 

The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award recognizes individuals who demonstrate the drive, passion, and tenacity that Dr. King embodied."

NYU Associate Vice President Karen Jackson-Weaver

The NYU Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, in partnership with the NYU Division of Student Affairs. Its purpose is to recognize faculty who make a positive impact within the classroom and in the greater NYU community. Current NYU students nominate faculty and recipients are chosen by a committee of past recipients and student leaders.

"The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Faculty Award recognizes individuals who demonstrate the drive, passion, and tenacity that Dr. King embodied. Our faculty make such a huge difference in the lives of our students; they strive to ensure that each individual is able to realize their fullest potential during their time at NYU," said Associate Vice President Karen Jackson-Weaver, chair of the NYU Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Faculty Awards Committe.  

María Rosa Brea-Spahn

Clinical Associate Professor; Director, Bilingual Extension Track

mrb17@nyu.edu

Heather Woodley

Clinical Associate Professor of TESOL, Bilingual Education, and World Language Education

hwoodley@nyu.edu