Doug Hamman, a visionary teacher educator dedicated to uplifting the profession of teaching and expanding access to high-quality, university-based educator preparation programs – especially for rural and underserved communities in Texas – passed away Saturday (Feb. 4). He was 61.
A self-described “rowdy” youngster with poor grades, who ended up as a professor of education partly by accident, Hamman rose to become a leading figure in teacher preparation in Texas. With Scott Ridley, the former dean of Texas Tech's College of Education from 2011 to 2018, Hamman pioneered a new partnership-focused style of teacher preparation in Texas that is now regarded as a model by colleges around the nation.
After Ridley's death from cancer in 2018, Hamman continued the work and began cementing his own legacy in rural education by launching a movement of West Texas universities, community colleges and school districts around rural teacher preparation.