Education Alumna Receives Teacher of the Year Honor at Illinois State University

Dr. Vivian Presiado MSED ’08 was recently named Illinois State University’s Teacher of the Year in the College of Education.

According to the university, the award “recognizes an educator who demonstrated exceptional teaching abilities, innovative practices, and a deep commitment to student success.”

Presiado, who joined ISU in 2020, is an assistant professor of bilingual and bicultural education in the School of Teaching and Learning. She helped create Nurturing Dreams for Blooming Bilingual Leaders, a project in which 25 Latine students from ISU shared their educational experiences with 50 first-generation Latine high school students from the Bloomington-Normal area. The high school students were introduced to ISU’s bilingual/bicultural program as a way to encourage them to consider higher education and future careers in bilingual education.

Presiado began her teaching career in early childhood education before later pursuing a PhD in curriculum and instruction.

She called her Dominican education “fundamental to my formation as an educator.”

“We had excellent instructors and mentors, including Dr. Dennis Kirchen, who asked me if I had ever thought about teaching at the collegiate level,” Presiado said. “Being a first-generation Latina, it had never crossed my mind that I could be a professor, and no one had ever voiced that they saw me as a potential candidate.  It was a key event in my life, and I am forever grateful to Dr. Kirchen for his guidance and support.”