AERA Recognizes Dr. Rachel Endo
Endo has received the 2023 Distinguished Researcher Award from the American Educational Research Association’s special interest group research into the education of Asian Pacific Americans.

Rachel Endo, Dean and Professor of the School of Education, is the recipient of the 2023 Distinguished Researcher Award from the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA’s) Research on the Education of Asian Pacific Americans Special Interest Group. The award is presented to “a scholar whose program of research has had a significant impact on our understanding of Asian Americans and/or Pacific Islanders and education.”
A group of nominators wrote:” Endo’s scholarly accomplishments have led to direct impacts in closing equity and opportunity gaps across institutional contexts and settings in K-12 and higher education, and specifically, has increased much-needed awareness of Asian American education in AERA and beyond,” and “She has made many innovative contributions to the study of education that span the areas of Asian American education, bilingual education, multicultural literature, parental engagement, and the unique experiences of teachers of color.”
Endo’s primary research interests are Asian American education; language and literacy education; transnational studies of Asian America; and urban education. Among other publications, she is the author of “The Incarceration of Japanese Americans in the 1940s: Literature for the High School Classroom,” winner of a Skipping Stones 2020 Award for Excellent Teaching Resource, and widely used among educators at various levels to address urgent issues with their students regarding the state of civil liberties, democracy, and race relations in the U.S. in challenging sociopolitical times.
Over her career, Endo has received two other AERA awards, including the 2019 Excellence in Mentorship Award through Division G/Social Contexts of Education and the 2017 Inaugural Don T. Nakanishi Excellence in Mentorship Award from the Research on the Education of Asian and Pacific Americans.
Recent news
Building Momentum
The creation of the Family Room and a registered student organization offer new resources to the Native and Indigenous community at UW Tacoma.
Developing Future Leaders
The Lead Your Way program of the Milgard Women’s Initiative brings together high school sophomores, juniors and community leaders for mentoring and self-recognition.
Building a Beloved Community
The largest gathering of faculty and staff since the pandemic came together recently to learn about and practice active listening, empathy and mindful inquiry.
UW Tacoma in the News
Hometown Hero: Federal Way veteran, researcher isn’t deterred by death
Biomedical sciences student and Army veteran Melissa Swain is a Federal Way Mirror Hometown Hero and a Soroptomist Club Live Your Dream scholarship recipient. Tragedy led to her role as a single mother and a research intern with the King County Medical Examiner's office.
UW Tacoma holds business plan competition with $30K prize
The 2023 VIBE Business Plan Competition is open to all Washington college students and those who graduated between 2020 and 2022. Submissions are due Feb. 3.
The Russell Family Foundation Announces Class 10 of Jane's Fellowship Program
The 10th cohort of this leadership program includes alumna and current Master of Social Work student Christina Qiao, '19, alumnus Jake Nau, '17, and current social welfare student Maira Mariscal.