Northwest Nazarene University honored alumna Marilyn Olson with the 2014 L. E. Wesche Outstanding Educator of the Year award last week. The award is given each year to an alumnus who has provided distinguished service in the field of education.

Olson is currently a research associate at the Center for Advanced Technology in Education at the University of Oregon. A member of NNU's class of 1962, she first obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Language and Literature, then a master’s degree from University of Missouri, Kansas City in 1968, and finally earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum and Instruction from University of Oregon in 1984.

For more than 50 years Olson has been involved with education at nearly every level. She taught junior high students at Huntington Junior High in Kelso, Washington, and Palmer Junior High in Independence, Missouri, and senior high students at Rantoul, Illinois, High School. Olson spent two years as an assistant professor at Olivet Nazarene University as well as an associate professor of graduate education at Point Loma Nazarene University. She has also served as an education consultant with the Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon, as a continuing education instructor at University of Oregon, as a special projects coordinator at Lane Education Service District in Eugene, Oregon, for over a decade, and as a curriculum development specialist for the same district.

More recently, she served as an administrator in the University of Oregon, Eugene's College of Education from 1997 to 2009, co-director of the OCTeach Project from 2004 to 2010, and is currently a research associate, a position she has actively held since 2009.

Olson has received and provided oversight for nine major funded educational research studies, has written or co-authored 20 professional papers and publications, and has served as a presenter, guest lecturer, and educational consultant.

The Wesche Award is named in honor of Lilburn Wesche, NNU faculty emeritus, who graduated from Northwest Nazarene College in 1951. During his 30-year career at NNU, he was a professor, head of the education department, director of teacher education, director of graduate studies, interim academic dean, and chair of the division of professional studies. Award recipients are current professionals who make a positive impact in the field of education that extends beyond the classroom.

--Northwest Nazarene University