Charlotte’s Ya-yu Lo And Morgan Nichols Recognized By The Council For Exceptional Children
Dr. Ya-yu Lo, faculty in Special Education and Child Development, and Morgan Nichols, her doctoral advisee, have both been recognized by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) for their work in the field of emotional and behavioral health.
Lo received the North Carolina CEC Distinguished Service Award for the Division of Emotional and Behavioral Health (DEBH) for her work in the area of behavioral and emotional disorders, which has significantly improved educational practices for students with these challenges. Lo’s former mentee, now ECU faculty and peer Dr. Tosha Owens introduced her at the virtual award ceremony on February 3, calling her former mentor “a longstanding pillar of the special education community, with a focus on advancing research-based practices for individuals with behavior disorders.”
“Throughout the years, Dr. Lo has demonstrated her commitment through mentorship of numerous doctoral candidates, now in various positions throughout the field, myself included. Being a Dr. Lo advisee comes with extremely high expectations, but also with incredible results. Dr. Lo has the ability to see beyond what her advisees see within themselves and helps them accomplish more than they ever thought possible. Even as a tenured professor, I still lean on her advice and guidance as I navigate through my career… In times when higher education has pulled me away from my passions and why I went into higher education in the first place, it has been Dr. Lo’s voice that has often guided me back to why I do what I do and the population for whom I advocate.”
Nichols also had kind words to say: “She leads with kindness, patience, and a steadfast belief in the potential of her students, always pushing us to grow beyond what we thought possible. Her support has been irreplaceable and appreciated more than she can ever know. This well-earned recognition is a testament to the lasting contributions she has made to the field and the many lives she has touched along the way.”
Nichols is also well on her way to distinguishing herself among the group of “Lo advisees” that Owens referred to in her award remarks, earning the 2025 National CEC DEBH Carl Fenichel Memorial Research Award. This award honors the memory of Carl Fenichel, who was a pioneer in the education of children with severe behavior disorders. The award is meant to promote student research regarding children with emotional and/or behavioral disorders and is given to students completing research projects, theses, or dissertations in this subject area.
Nichols’s dissertation is entitled “Effects of Function-Based Self-Advocacy Training on the Challenging Behavior and Skill Acquisition of Students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders and Teacher Stress and Burnout.” Dr. Suzanne Kemp, President of the DEBH Foundation and professor at University of Nebraska-Lincoln, called the research “very timely and pertinent to the field. We are confident that it will have an impact on students.” She will receive her award at the national council in Baltimore next month.