National Association for Music Education Announces Colleen Conway as the Recipient of the 2026 NAfME Senior Researcher Award

HERNDON, Va., Aug. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) is pleased to recognize Colleen Conway, Professor of Music Education at the University of Michigan, as the twentieth recipient of the NAfME Senior Researcher Award. The award, from the NAfME Society for Research in Music Education (SRME), recognizes significant, long-term scholarship in music education. Conway will be presented the award on October 2 at the 2026 Biennial NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education Conference, taking place at the Hilton Long Beach in Long Beach, California.

"Colleen Conway's extensive career as an educator, researcher, and colleague on numerous editorial boards and committees is illustrious in its reach in preparing future music educators and pushing forward the music education profession, bolstered by impactful findings in music research," stated NAfME President Cecil Adderley. "But also notable, of course, is her impact on people—both the students she taught and mentored and her colleagues in the field. We at NAfME and the Society for Research in Music Education are honored to present Conway as the 2026 Senior Researcher Award recipient and look forward to her remarks this fall at the 2026 Biennial NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education, which most certainly will be inspiring and encouraging."

"Dr. Conway's record of accomplishments is both broad and diverse," shared Dr. John Eros, Professor and Coordinator of Music Education at California State University, East Bay. "Her record of publication, editorship, and mentorship places her in a category of her own. Colleen's influence can be felt not only within journals and conference presentations, but within university classrooms and Schools of Music led by her doctoral alumni. Finally, Dr. Conway has made a lasting impact on the field of research in music education itself, through her tireless work in establishing qualitative research as an essential mode of inquiry within the profession."

"Dr. Conway's degree of productivity as a scholar is second to none, as evidenced by her extremely extensive record of peer-reviewed journal articles and books," added Peter Miksza, Professor and Chair of Music Education at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. "Her publications address a range of topics relevant to many throughout the profession, including preservice music teacher preparation, mentoring and induction, in-service teacher professional development, curriculum and assessment, classroom management, and music teacher identity and agency development. In addition, Dr. Conway has played a pivotal role in legitimizing, refining, and advancing qualitative research as a rigorous and essential mode of knowledge production in the field. Through her scholarship, she has demonstrated how qualitative approaches can illuminate aspects of music teaching and learning that other methods could not, thereby reshaping both research practice and doctoral preparation."

Conway received her Bachelor of Music in Applied Horn, Bachelor of Music in Music Education, and Master of Arts in Music Education from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. She received her Doctor of Education in Music Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Conway's teaching career spans 1988 to the present day as an instrumental and general music teacher in public New York schools and at the university level from 1995 to the present day.

"Dr. Conway has published 110+ articles," and "her research on music teacher mentoring, development, and identity has provided important frameworks for understanding how teachers learn, evolve, and sustain their professional lives," noted Phillip M. Hash, Professor of Music Education and Director of Undergraduate Music Education at the Illinois State University School of Music. "Although the sheer quantity is impressive, the impact of her work is what is most important. According to the 'Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators' published by in the Elsevier Data Repository in 2025, Colleen was the eighth most cited researcher internationally in music education in 2024, and the fourth most cited researcher overall to date."

"As a graduate of the University of Michigan (PhD, 2009)," added Dr. Eros, "I can further attest to Dr. Conway's contributions to the profession through her extensive work in the area of doctoral education, specifically her pivotal role in the revitalization of the PhD program at the University of Michigan. I began the fall of 2005 as one of the first three students in the newly re-established PhD program led by then Director of Graduate Studies Colleen Conway. Since then, Michigan's program has grown to a robust size, producing graduates who have gone on to faculty and administrative positions, as well as positions of leadership within professional organizations, throughout the United States and abroad."

"I have personally known Colleen for many years from my work as a professor in the state of Michigan from 2004–2017 and an active member of the research community," shared Hash. "I can think of no one more deserving of this award based on her highly prolific output of peer-reviewed research, mentoring of emerging scholars, and service as an editor and reviewer for numerous music education journals."

"She has contributed to shaping research conversations in music education and supporting the dissemination of scholarship," added Miksza. "Her editorial service reflects sustained engagement with the field's research community. [She] has also demonstrated a long-standing commitment to nurturing the next generation of scholars through her mentoring of graduate students. She has supervised and advised numerous master's and doctoral students and has regularly collaborated with former students on scholarly publications. These coauthored works illustrate an approach to mentorship that emphasizes continued scholarly engagement beyond degree completion."

"Professor Conway has been a tireless, reliable, and always available mentor to me and to many others," noted Ann Marie Stanley, Director of the School of Music and Professor of Music Education at The Pennsylvania State University. "If you have attended one of her clinics, workshops, guest lectures, or courses, you will remember how interactive, personal, and lively her teaching is. Unfailingly, she remembers everyone she has taught, and their students, and their students' students. It is remarkable to witness the breadth of her professional network, but even more striking to realize that these connections are always genuine. They are rooted in a sincere desire to move music education forward."

The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) is a collaborative community that supports music educators and advocates for equitable access to music education. The only association that addresses all aspects of music education, NAfME, together with its affiliated state music education associations, advocates at the national, state, and local levels and provides resources and opportunities for teachers, students, parents, and administrators. Founded in 1907 and representing more than 57,000 members teaching millions of students, NAfME advances the music education profession and promotes lifelong experiences in music. 

Follow NAfME on Facebook (facebook.com/nafme) and Instagram (instagram.com/nafme). For additional information, contact Catherina Hurlburt at [email protected] or 703-860-4000.

SOURCE National Association for Music Education