Mary Donegan-Ritter Ph.D.

Staff Title: 
Associate Professor, Early Childhood Education
College Major: 
Ph.D. Early Childhood Special Education, C.A.S. Educational Administration, M.S. Early Childhood Education, B.S. Elementary & Special Education
profile picture for Mary Donegan-Ritter
Phone Number: 
(319) 273-7279

Mary Donegan-Ritter has been in the field of early childhood education over 30 years ago as a preschool teacher, home based early interventionist and ECSE teacher. After earning her PhD in early childhood special education she was on the early childhood faculty at the University of Michigan-Dearborn for nine years. After moving to Iowa she served as Project Director of Coaching and Mentoring for Preschool Quality (CAMP Quality), a CLASS-related professional development project funded by the Office of Head Start. She is currently an associate professor of ECE at the University of Northern Iowa where she teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in early childhood and serves as assistant department head. Her research interests include coaching to support professional development of teachers, and inquiry based STEM curriculum in inclusive preschools