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The Rochester Area Colleges Continuing Education Association (RACCE) recently presented Warner School of Education doctoral student Kristen Love with an Outstanding Adult Student Award. Love was formally recognized by the RACCE at a banquet this spring.

The award is given to candidates who exemplify a strong commitment to higher education despite the unique challenges adult learners may face. Eligibility for the awards requires not only academic excellence, but also a demonstrated ability by the candidates to balance personal and professional responsibilities while working toward completing their degree.

Love works at the ������Ƶ as a senior project coordinator for the Center for Disability and Education (formerly the Institute for Innovative Transition). A partnership of the Golisano Foundation, the ������Ƶ’s Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities, and the Warner School, the Center for Disability and Education aims to improve the quality of life of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families as they transition from school age to adulthood.

In addition to her full-time job, adjunct teaching responsibilities, and research responsibilities this past year, Love has endured a very high-risk pregnancy, with only 50 percent chance of a successful outcome. She has since given birth to twin girls, and after spending weeks in the NICU at Golisano Children’s Hospital, her daughters are now healthy and growing strong.

Martha Mock, director of the Center for Disability and Education and associate professor at the Warner School and ������Ƶ Medical Center’s Department of Pediatrics, says that Love clearly exemplifies all the elements of the RACCE Adult Student Award.

“I anticipate that Kristen will continue to be prolific in her research and teaching career as she launches the next phase of her professional life,” says Mock. “It was a pleasure to nominate such a deserving individual for this award.”

A native of York, Pa., Love earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in special education at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She recently defended her dissertation, titled “Working My Way Through College:  Experiences of College Students Labeled with Intellectual Disabilities,” and will graduate in May with her PhD in teaching, curriculum, and change.