Kathleen DeMarrais has won the American Educational Studies Association's 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Some residents may have noticed the Rowdy Rooster was closed last weekend.
That’s because Kathleen deMarrais was heading home from New Mexico with a new honor — the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Educational Studies Association (AESA).
“When I found out, I was pretty surprised,” deMarrais said. “It’s sort of the culmination of my career within this organization.”
Many know deMarrais from Lexington’s Rowdy Rooster, which she owns and operates alongside Jamie Lewis.
But being a small business owner isn’t deMarrais’ only passion.
DeMarrais had a 52-year teaching career that began in K-12 special education, and ended as a professor at the University of Georgia when she retired three years ago.
Although she has lived in Oglethorpe County since 1999, she’s been part of AESA since the 1980s.
DeMarrais received her bachelor's degree from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania, her master’s in special education at Xavier University and a degree in social foundations of education at the University of Cincinnati.
She said she “loved going to school.”
The former educator has a background in qualitative research methodology, and has published numerous books — two of which she co-authored with Kathy Roulston, professor and department head in UGA’s Department of Lifelong Education, Administration and Policy.
Roulston is also a member of the AESA and coordinated deMarrais’ nomination for the award. This involved gathering and compiling support letters, among other tasks.
“(DeMarrais) has really influenced many, many people, whether it’s her colleagues, her students, former students, professors,” Roulston said. “She’s very well deserving of this lifetime achievement award.”
AESA is a research organization that “looks at education from different perspectives” and uses “philosophical, historical, multicultural views on education and schooling,” said deMarrais, who was president of the organization in 2005.
Lewis, who is also a member of AESA and a former educator, accompanied deMarrais to Albuquerque for the annual conference, which took place Oct. 29-Nov. 2.
The two flew out early to visit Lewis’ former students at the Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. On their way back to Albuquerque for the conference, they also stopped at Window Rock and the Navajo Code Talker Monument.
The award is presented to an individual who has “published significantly influential works exploring education” and has “mentored students” and “provided leadership” within the field, according to an email from AESA calling for nominations from members.
It is funded by Taylor & Francis publishing company and was created in 2018. The winner receives $1,000 and a plaque, which deMarrais said will arrive in the mail.
DeMarrais said she is putting her check toward a scholarship she supports in UGA’s Qualitative Research Program.
The scholarship funds travel and research for doctoral students, “so that they, too, can go to organizations like this,” deMarrais said.
DeMarrais said the organization changed its motto this year, and it resonated with her when she read it for the first time: “Welcome Home.”
“I’ve been in other national and international organizations, but this is where my home is,” deMarrais said. “It’s a place where I’ve been my whole career … so it was pretty humbling to receive the award.”