The OLC is proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 OLC Accelerate Awards and the 2026 Class of OLC Fellows. These prestigious honors celebrate exemplary leaders, researchers, practitioners, and institutional teams pushing the boundaries of digital, blended, and online learning to drive student success, operational excellence, and pedagogical innovation worldwide.
“Each year, the OLC Accelerate Awards highlight the extraordinary creativity, research, and leadership driving digital education forward,” said Dylan Barth, Ph.D., Vice President of Innovation and Programs. “The 2026 award recipients and fellows represent the highest standards of innovation—demonstrating how thoughtful leadership, collaborative governance, human-centered technology, and rigorous research can transform organizations and empower learners across the globe.”
The 2026 awards and fellowships will be formally celebrated during OLC Accelerate 2026, held November 16–19, 2026, in Orlando, Florida.
2026 OLC Accelerate Award Winners
Gomory-Mayadas Award for Excellence in Digital Learning Leadership
Chris Zakrzewski, Ed.D. — Baylor University
Project Title: Designed for Flourishing: Transforming the Culture of Learning Design at Baylor
Under Dr. Zakrzewski’s leadership, the Learning Design Team at Baylor University transformed institutional culture by cultivating innovation and curiosity through meaningful engagement with faculty. By aligning learning design strategies directly with the university’s mission, the project successfully integrates academic excellence and values-driven education within a supportive, caring digital community.
John R. Bourne Award of Excellence in Online and Digital Programming
RU Online Advisory Board — Rockford University
Team Recipients: Christine Albert, CPA; Joel Lynch, Ph.D.; Kelly Monson, Ed.D.; Antonia Rowe, MBA, M.Ed.; Kathleen Wolfgram; Deepshikha Shukla, Ph.D., MBA
At a time when higher education faces unprecedented disruption—declining enrollments, rising student expectations, financial pressures, faculty burnout, and accelerating technological change—the RU Online Advisory Board at Rockford University has demonstrated how a small private liberal arts institution located in Northern Illinois with limited resources can create transformational, sustainable, and student-centered online programming through collaboration, shared governance, and relentless commitment to quality and continuous improvement.
Award for Excellence in AI-Enabled Education
Tennessee Board of Regents
Team Recipients: Jamie Nelson, Ph.D.; Sarah Hazelton, MBA; Erin Hugus, Ed.D.; Parishweta Bhatt, MBA
Project Title: Building a Statewide AI Implementation Ecosystem
Over the past three years, the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) has led a coordinated, statewide effort to address a critical challenge facing higher education: how to move artificial intelligence from isolated experimentation to responsible, scalable, and instructionally meaningful implementation. To support this work, TBR established the AI Learning Collaborative, a statewide approach designed to help institutions move from awareness and experimentation toward responsible, scalable, and sustainable AI adoption.
Award for Excellence in Digital Learning Innovation
ACES Learning Design Team — University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences)
Team Recipients: Deb Korte, Ph.D.; Elissa Thomann Mitchell, Ph.D.; Jennifer Banda, M.A.; Logan Honegger, M.S.; Kasey Murphy, M.A.; Adam Ruud, B.S.; Kevin Southworth, B.A.; Alex Sparks, M.S.
Project Title: ACES Learning Innovation Lab (ALIL)
The ACES Learning Innovation Lab serves as a cutting-edge collaborative design space where educators and industry leaders co-create responsive, data-driven innovations in education. Equipped with emerging technology, ALIL empowers instructional leaders to build transformative undergraduate, graduate, and skills-based credential programs tailored for a diverse, global audience of learners.
Award for Excellence in Digital Learning Support
Sonya Foley Dunkin — The University of Alabama
Project Title: Transforming UA Online from a Student Services Model to a Student Success Model
Sonya Foley Dunkin spearheaded a high-impact institutional transition at The University of Alabama, shifting UA Online’s operational paradigm from traditional student transactional support to a proactive, holistic Student Success Model. This initiative significantly enhanced student retention, engagement, and long-term academic outcome tracking for distance learners.
OLC Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award
Bethany Bovard — Consultant
Bethany Bovard has been named the inaugural recipient of the 2026 OLC Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award, launched this year by OLC’s Center for Professional Learning (CPL) to formally recognize the outstanding accomplishments and excellence of CPL faculty annually. This award celebrates Bethany’s exceptional contributions to teaching and learning within the CPL and OLC at large, recognizing excellence in workshop outcomes, positive learner feedback, and dedicated service to the community.
With over 25 years of experience in distance education and online learning across military, K–12, and higher education contexts, Bethany focuses on supporting educators as they navigate online environments—maximizing technology’s affordances while overcoming its challenges as a teacher, student, and instructional designer.
Karen J. Swan OLJ Outstanding Research Achievement Award in Digital Education
Khe Foon HEW, Ph.D. — Professor, The University of Hong Kong
Professor Hew is recognized for extraordinary contributions to the body of knowledge surrounding online pedagogy, instructional design, and blended learning environments. Serving on editorial boards for leading journals such as the British Journal of Educational Technology and Educational Technology Research & Development (ETR&D), Professor Hew’s body of research continues to significantly shape contemporary digital teaching practices globally.
2026 OLC Fellows Class
The OLC Fellows program recognizes outstanding individuals who have provided extraordinary leadership, service, and scholarship to the field of online learning and to the Online Learning Consortium.
The OLC is proud to induct the 2026 Class of OLC Fellows:
- Tina Parscal, Ph.D. — Recognized for long-standing leadership, pioneering contributions to digital learning policy and quality assurance, and dedicated service to the online learning community.
- Florence Martin, Ph.D. — Recognized for influential scholarly research in instructional design, online learner engagement, and leadership in advancing higher education technology practices.
- Anissa Lokey-Vega, Ph.D. — Recognized for institutional innovation, leadership in digital learning transformation, and strategic contributions to faculty development and online learning excellence.
About the Online Learning Consortium
The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) is a collaborative community of higher education leaders and innovators dedicated to advancing quality digital teaching and learning experiences designed to reach and engage modern learners. Learn more at onlinelearningconsortium.org.
