Awards

School of Education Distinguished Alumni Award - 2011

About Christine Cheney

Christine Cheney is dean of the College of Education at University of Nevada, Reno, where she taught for more than 25 years. After completing her doctoral work at the IU School of Education, she came to the University of Nevada in 1984 as assistant professor in special education. She was promoted to the rank of associate professor in 1990 and to full professor in 1997. In 2003, she became founding department chair of the newly organized Department of Educational Specialties and, in 2010, she was named dean of the College of Education.

She earned a B.A in psychology and an M.Ed. in special education at the College of William and Mary in Virginia in 1971 and 1973, respectively. She is a former special education teacher and administrator in Virginia, South Carolina and Indiana. Cheney has been involved in education at the local, state and national levels. She has consulted extensively with Nevada school districts around issues of special education, inclusion of students with disabilities and behavior management. She has served on many task forces and work groups for the Nevada Department of Education. In addition, she is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions from the University of Nevada: the Regents Undergraduate Advisor Award (2001), the University Distinguished Teacher Award (2002), Outstanding College of Education Outreach Award (2003) and the President's Award for Outstanding University Service (2004). She is the author or co-author of more than 30 refereed articles and three book chapters or monographs. She is also the author or co-author of five federal grants, bringing $4.5 million to the university.