The Mary L. Collins Award for Excellence in Teacher Education is presented each year to an educator who has made significant and substantial contributions to teacher education in Florida. The award, established in 2000, is named for Dr. Mary Collins, Professor of Teacher Education in the Fischler Graduate School of Education at Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Collins is responsible for the revitalization of FATE and has made many contributions to teacher education at the state, regional and national levels.

The nomination must originate from a FATE member. The Teacher Educator Standards, published by ATE, the Association of Teacher Educators should be taken into consideration when completing the nomination. These standards can be reviewed on the ATE website, https://www.ate1.org/standards.html

This award will be presented at the  2026 Florida Association of Teacher Educators Annual Conference (FATE) at Southeastern University, Lakeland, FL on November 13-14th, 2026.

Please visit https://floridaate.org/annual-conference/ for more conference details.  Nomination Packages are due October 16, 2026. Recipients will be notified no later than October 26, 2026.