TAMIU’s Dr. Linn Named Recipient of 2024 Golden Apple Award, Celebrates 42 Years of Teaching Service
At the recent Texas Delta Kappa, Alpha Delta Kappa Chapter 39th Annual Golden Apple Awards “Stars in Education” Ceremony Dr. Diana Linn, longtime Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) associate professor of Curriculum and Instruction for the College of Education was named the 2024 Golden Apple Award Winner from a field of 84 nominees.
The Award is the latest in a highly distinguished international career that encompasses over 42 years of remarkable service to teaching and administration.
TAMIU College of Education Dean Dr. James O’Meara commended Linn’s selection and noted her impact at TAMIU.
“Dr. Linn is revered by her colleagues and her students, and we are all delighted to see her service to teaching being recognized by Texas Delta Kappa. Her contributions here at TAMIU have impacted hundreds, if not thousands of our students and graduates,” Dr. O’Meara said.
Linn said she believes education’s purpose is to help students realize their fullest potential, both individuallyand as vital contributors to society. She has dedicated her life to this mission, significantly impactingstudents’ lives through her role as an educator, particularly in Special Education.
“I am enormously honored to have received the Golden Apple Award. Teaching is everything to me. I have not once doubted my choice to become a teacher once I decided to do so at the age of 5 years. In fact, it wasn’t a choice, something in the universe called me to do this. Teaching for me is a vocation and such a huge part of my identity that I don’t know how to be, how to exist... without being a teacher,” Dr.Linn said.
Linn will soon embark on her 23rd year of teaching TAMIU graduate and undergraduate courses in Curriculum and Instruction, Multicultural Education, and Special Education.
Last year, Linn was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Region 5 Texas National Association of Multicultural Education (TXNAME) Conference hosted by Baylor University’s School of Education, department of Curriculum and Instruction. A longtime NAME member, she was also a keynote speaker at the Conference, providing the Cherry B. Gooden Executive Board Keynote Address.
She is the recipient of TAMIU’s 2023 Distinguished Teacher Award and a past recipient of The Texas A&M University System’s Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award. This past Spring, she was one of 13 teachers honored with School Bell Awards by the Laredo Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
She holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Multicultural Education and Special Education from Texas A&M University. Her Master of Science in Education, with an emphasis in School Counseling, is from TAMIU, and her Bachelors of Science in Elementary (grades 1-8) and Special Education (Learning Disabilities and Behavioral Disorders) was earned at Kent State University in Kent, OH.
Linn has taught in public and private schools in México (Mexico City and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas) and Texas (Laredo ISD). She has led a popular TAMIU Study Abroad program in Madrid, Spain for over 10 years.
Her research interests include the disproportionality of English learners receiving special education services, and narrative analyses of journals and cultural autobiographies of her students participating in the Madrid summer program.
For additional information, contact TAMIU’s Office of Public Relations, Marketing, and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu, phone 956.326.2180, or visit tamiu.edu.
Registration for Summer and Fall 2024 at TAMIU is now underway. View the registration schedule here: https://www.tamiu.edu/registrar/registration
To learn more about the University’s Registration processes, visit the dedicated Registration Hub at https://go.tamiu.edu/registration.
Summer Semester II begins Monday, July 8, 2024. The first day of classes for the Fall 2024 semester is Monday, Aug. 26, 2024.
More of the University’s story is available on its social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube and online at tamiu.edu.
