Cheryl Logan, superintendent of Omaha Public Schools, has been awarded the 2022 Harold W. McGraw, Jr., Prize in Education in the category of Pre-K-12 education.

In announcing Logan’s award, organizers cited her “innovative leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and [her] commitment to providing opportunities for students to achieve their highest potential.” 

The Omaha school system was among the first large, urban school districts to return to in-person learning in 2020 after participating in a covid testing pilot study run by the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The district’s board president, Shavonna Holman, cited that initiative as well as a new strategic plan of action and praised Logan’s “student-centered service and leadership.”

Logan has led the Omaha district since 2018. She previously was chief academic officer in Philadelphia, where she won plaudits for founding an early-college program in that district.

Winners of the annual prize, established in 1988 and funded by the McGraw Family Foundation, are chosen by a panel of judges with expertise in education. The categories for the award include Pre-K-12 Education, Higher Education, and Learning Science Research. Each winner receives $50,000.

Since 2020, the prize has had its home at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, setting up a collaboration to create ongoing programming to share ideas and insights. That initiative is led by Penn GSE’s center for global education innovation (Catalyst@PennGSE).