Mary Donegan-Ritter, Ph.D. began her career in the field of early childhood education as a preschool teacher, early interventionist, and early childhood special education coordinator in the New York metropolitan area. After earning her doctorate in early childhood special education from the University of Illinois in 1996, she joined the faculty at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, earning tenure in 2002. Three years later she relocated to Iowa, and taught a variety of courses at the University of Northern Iowa. 

She spent four years 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 aimed at improving the interactions between teachers and children in Head Start classrooms across Iowa. She joined the unified early childhood faculty at the University of Northern Iowa in 2015 and is currently the coordinator of the program.  Her current research interests include coaching models for professional development in early childhood settings, evaluation and development of STEM curriculum, and project approach in preservice teacher preparation.