Kiramba receives Carlos J. Vallejo Memorial Award for Emerging Scholarship


Lydiah Kiramba
Lydiah Kiramba

Kiramba receives Carlos J. Vallejo Memorial Award for Emerging Scholarship

24 Apr 2020     By Matt Sernett

Lydiah Kiramba, assistant professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education at University of Nebraska–Lincoln, is the 2020 recipient of the Carlos J. Vallejo Memorial Award for Emerging Scholarship from the American Educational Research Association.

According to AERA, the purpose of the Carlos J Vallejo Award is to recognize an advanced doctoral student or assistant professor whose scholarly contributions are poised to contribute to scholarship in the field of multicultural/multiethnic education.

“It is a great honor to be recognized by a national research organization, to join a list of long admired, respected and accomplished researchers, scholars and practitioners who have received the Dr. Carlos J. Vallejo Memorial award,” Kiramba said. “I am grateful to the entire Multicultural/Multiethnic Education Special Interest Group, SIG leadership team, awards committee and my nominators, Dr. Ted Hamann of UNL and Dr. Alex Kumi-Yeboah of the University at Albany.”

Selection criteria for the award include one’s efforts in producing scholarship which advances multicultural and multiethnic education, and one’s commitment to underserved communities beyond scholarship.

Kiramba’s research at Nebraska investigates home, school, and society intersections with a focus on multilingual students of immigrant and refugee backgrounds in the US. Her goal is to highlight their multilingual competencies and sociocultural capital that could not only enhance student success, but also contribute to educational discourses needed to prepare teachers who are better equipped to address 21st century educational challenges and opportunities.

The Carlos J Vallejo Award is peer nominated. One of Karimba’s nominators was Alex Kumi-Yeboah, assistant professor at University at Albany.

“Dr. Kiramba produces scholarship in the areas of multilingual/multicultural and multiethnic fields, areas that are essential to high-quality teacher education programs. She has developed a strong commitment to advancing the ideals of cultural relevance and language development for minority students, multi-ethnic and multicultural education,” Kumi-Yeboah said.

Kiramba has previously been recognized with the Young Scholars Award from the International Reading Association, and the Cultivating New Voices Among Scholars of Color Award from the National Council of Teachers of English Research Foundation.

Kiramba earned her doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. She earned master’s degrees in African studies and African linguistics at Illinois and Moi University, respectively.


College of Education and Human Sciences