Outstanding contribution to research in Catholic education
Clough School of Theology and Ministry Professor Hosffman Ospino has received the 2024 Outstanding Contribution to Research in Catholic Education Award, presented by the Catholic Education Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association. The award is presented to a Catholic education researcher who is a standout in the profession and has met the very highest professional standards of achievement. Ospino received the award on April 12 at the AERA Annual Meeting held in Philadelphia.
According to the Catholic Education Special Interest Group executive committee: “For more than a decade, Dr. Ospino has been a national leader in the study of Hispanic Catholics in the United States. Through his work, we have a deeper understanding of a wide range of issues concerning the relationship of Catholic schools and the Hispanic community—from student enrollment, to family participation, to teacher pipelines. Dr. Ospino has been an invaluable contributor to our understanding of the past and future of Catholic education in the United States.”
Clough School of Theology and Ministry Professor Hosffman Ospino received the 2024 Outstanding Contribution to Research in Catholic Education Award. (Photo by Michael O'Connor)
Ospino has conducted groundbreaking studies on Catholic parishes with Hispanic ministry, Catholic schools serving Hispanic families, and Hispanic teachers and leaders in Catholic schools. He is director of “Nuevo Momento: Leadership and Capacity Building for Ministerial Organizations Serving Hispanic Catholics,” a five-year collaborative project funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc. He also is co-principal investigator for “Haciendo Caminos: Theological Education for New Generations of U.S. Latino/a Catholics,” a Lilly Endowment-funded initiative that seeks to foster fresher models of graduate theological education to form the next generation of young adult leaders to engage in ministry with Hispanic Catholics.
“Research has allowed us to understand well to what extent Catholic education, in its many expressions, has played a major role in defining Catholic identity and commitment in the United States,” said Ospino, a professor of Hispanic ministry and religious education. “This is a time when we need to redouble that commitment to research and understand better how Catholic educational efforts and institutions can better serve an increasingly diverse and mostly Hispanic generation of young U.S. Catholics. This implies more collaboration among researchers from different fields and generous investment to support this kind of research.”
A Boston College faculty member since 2007, Ospino chairs the Clough School’s Department of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry where he teaches courses in practical theology and religious education.
He is a recipient of the 2021 Richard Cardinal Cushing Medal for the Advancement of Church Research; 2018 Virgilio Elizondo Award from the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States; 2018 Lumen Gentium Award; and the 2018 Cheverus Award from the Archdiocese of Boston, among other honors.
Founded in 1916, the AERA is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning.
Also at the annual meeting, Jeremy Alexander, an instructional leadership coach at BC’s Roche Center for Catholic Education, received the 2024 Dissertation of the Year Award from the Religion and Education Special Interest Group for his dissertation “The Christian Worldview and the Formation of Theo-Political Citizens: An Ethno-Case Study of a Conservative Christian School.” Alexander received a Ph.D. from the Lynch School of Education and Human Development in 2023.
In addition, Melodie Wyttenbach, Michael O’Connor, John Reyes, and Elena Sada, all of the Roche Center, made presentations at the meeting.