Shannon Wagner, superintendent of the Burrell School District, is the winner of the 2025 Dr. Jean E. Winsand Distinguished Woman in Education Award.
According to the University of Pittsburgh website, the award is presented to a woman who has made a “significant impact and positive difference” throughout her career. It recognizes “a woman who has demonstrated exemplary leadership and service to others through her activities and initiatives.”
Wagner, a Lower Burrell resident, received the award during the Tri-State Area School Study Council’s Dr. Jean E. Winsand Workshop for Women in School Leadership at the University of Pittsburgh earlier this month.
School board president Rick Kaczor acknowledged Wagner’s achievement at the April school board meeting.
“She would never mention this on her own, so I just wanted to recognize her,” Kaczor said as board members applauded.
To be considered for the award a person has to be nominated by a peer, but Wagner had no idea who nominated her, she said.
As for winning the award, she said in a low-key fashion, “It’s pretty cool.”
Wagner has served as Burrell’s leader for nearly 16 years, having been appointed by the school board in July 2009.
At the time of her appointment, she had worked in the district for eight years, serving as assistant principal and then principal of Huston Middle School. She was elevated to administrative assistant to Superintendent George Staudenmaier, a position she held for two years before being named superintendent.
Jean E. Winsand, the woman who the award memorializes, was an associate professor in both the Departments of Instruction and Learning and Administrative and Policy Studies in The University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education, according to the university’s website.
Her biography describes her as “a woman of integrity, determination, professionalism, and absolute passion for quality teaching and leadership” and “fervently advocated for more females in administration at both the university level and in K-12 schools.”