Three of Stanford’s most distinguished graduates from the Graduate School of Education were honored with the inaugural Alumni Excellence in Education Award. Chosen from a group of alumni nominated by their peers, the recipients of the award are Jonathan Jansen Ph.D. ’91, Helen Kim ’92 M.A. ’93 and Carla Pugh Ph.D. ’01.

Deborah Stipek, I. James Quillen Dean at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education, explained how the award aims to recognize graduates’ work.

“Our alumni are advancing the field of education as practitioners, policy makers, scholars and leaders,” Stipek told the Stanford Report. “We are proud to have the opportunity to celebrate their contributions to the field of education.”

Jansen is the rector and vice-chancellor at the University of the Free State in South Africa. He works to create an integrated university by decreasing racial remarks at the school and has received an Outstanding Book Award from the American Educational Research Association.

Kim co-founded Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto and dedicates her time to help underprivileged students. The school has seen exponential growth in size and almost 100 percent of students go on to attend a four-year college.

Pugh is the vice chair of education and patient safety in the Department of Surgery at the University of Wisconsin’s School of Medicine and Public Health. In 2011, she was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers for her research on a device that can judge whether or not a doctor is performing breast exams correctly.

The graduates will be formally recognized at a reception on Oct. 23.

An earlier version of this article stated that Jonathan Jansen worked at the University of the Free State in South America instead of South Africa. The Daily regrets this error.

Contact Trisha Kholiya at tktrishakholiya ‘at’ gmail.com.