Angelo State Education Professor Named Distinguished Alumni at Alma Mater

SAN ANGELO, TX -- Dr. Lesley Casarez of Angelo State University’s graduate education faculty has been named the 2020 Distinguished Young Alumna for Sul Ross State University in Alpine, where she earned a master’s degree in counseling in 2008.

Casarez and several other alumni and athletics awardees will be honored at the 2020 SRSU Alumni Gala on March 28, 2020.

An associate professor in the ASU Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Casarez oversees the award-winning online Master of Education in guidance and counseling and Master of Science in professional school counseling degree programs. These programs are regularly listed in top national rankings, and graduates consistently maintain high pass rates on the state certification exams, speaking to the rigor and quality of the programs. Casarez also serves as a mentor and supervisor for about 50 faculty members and instructors within the two programs.

An ASU faculty member since 2013, Casarez is also president of the ASU chapter of the Phi Kappa Phi national honor society. In July, she was awarded a 2019 Literacy Grant by Phi Kappa Phi to help fund the implementation of a new social emotional learning (SEL) program at San Angelo’s Lee Middle School, titled “Rebels Excel at SEL.”

An editorial board member for the Journal of Professional Counseling, Casarez is also a past-president of the Texas School Counselor Association, which named her Counseling Educator of the Year in 2015. She has been recognized as one of San Angelo’s “Top 20 Under 40” citizens, and she received the ASU Alumni Association’s 2018 Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award.

Casarez earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas, master’s degrees from SRSU and Texas State University, and her Ph.D. in educational psychology from Texas Tech University.