Marvin Beekman Award
The Beekman Award is MAASE's preeminent award presented annually at our Summer Institute event.
This award honors a candidate who has:
- Excelled in their education, experience, current administrative responsibilities
- Received local honors and special recognition
- Demonstrated leadership in organizational memberships
- Been actively involved in community activities
- Other distinguishing characteristics.
Do you know someone who is worthy? If so, please complete the nomination form linked in the button below.
Beekman Award Winner
Nominees for the Beekman Award must:
- Be a special education administrator at the local, regional, or state level.
- Have made significant contributions on behalf of special education.
- Have demonstrated quality service in the field of special education.
- Have exhibited integrity in his/her daily work and relationships.
- Have diverse involvement in both the community and educational arenas.
- Have made contributions to special education with statewide significance.
- Have made significant contributions to MAASE.
- Have proven him or herself to be a visionary.
- Possess personal attributes that make him/her an outstanding representative of the Beekman Award.
2025 Beekman Award Winner
Renee Thelen, Director of Special Education, Clinton County RESA
Award presentation by Kirsten Myers, MAASE President:
This individual is deeply respected throughout Michigan and beyond as a systems-level leader with a rare gift: the ability to blend deep technical expertise with unshakable emotional intelligence. Whether facilitating a countywide initiative, resolving a high-stakes complaint, or coaching a young leader through conflict, this person does it all with clarity, humility, and heart.
With over two decades of service, this leader has held a wide range of positions across the special education landscape. Their career includes work in both school-based and administrative roles, as well as responsibilities at regional and statewide levels, providing them with a comprehensive perspective on the system.
A colleague once said, “When this person walks into a room, things get done. Not through force, but through calm clarity and trust.”
This leader has:
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Designed systems for general supervision monitoring.
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Provided rigorous, practical professional development across disciplines.
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Facilitated effective, student-centered IEPs.
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Coached others through REED, PLAAFP, FBA, and BIP alignment using original rubric frameworks.
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Served on multiple MDE and statewide workgroups, including those focused on preschool inclusion, mental health hiring, and school social work reform.
Their presentations have anchored major conferences, from MCEC to the recent Illuminate Midwest Users Conference, where they’ve spoken on everything from progress monitoring to IEP facilitation and legislative advocacy.
But this award isn’t just about credentials—it’s about character.
This leader is the kind of person who asks, “What is best for the student?”—and actually means it. Time and time again, this simple but powerful question has refocused conversations and defused tension, helping teams work through disagreement with shared purpose.
One nominator wrote:
“You don’t just ask this person a question and walk away with an answer. You walk away with a new understanding and a desire to do better.”
This individual listens to understand. Coaches with compassion. Leads with purpose. And still makes space for humor, friendship, and joy. One former colleague said, “I admired their knowledge of special education—but I admired the person even more.”
If you still don’t know who I’m referring to, here’s your final clue. This individual has served as:
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Our first-ever two-term MAASE President.
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Co-chair of the Legislative Action Seminar.
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A constant presence on the Summer Institute Planning Committee for nearly a decade.
Wherever this person goes, a trail of empowered leaders follows.
And so today, it is my immense honor—on behalf of the Michigan Association of Administrators of Special Education—to present the 2025 Marvin Beekman Award to...
Renee Thelen
Renee, you’ve taught us all that the best leadership is grounded in doing the next right thing—for the right reason, in the right way—for the students and families that we serve. Your work reminds us that excellence in special education isn’t just about programs or policies—it’s about people. And it’s about showing up, every day, with clarity, compassion, and conviction.
You’ve led by example, not by seeking recognition, but by consistently lifting others, empowering teams, and staying grounded in what matters most. You have quietly and powerfully moved systems, shifted mindsets, and left a lasting mark on all of us.
As we gather here under the theme "United Today, Stronger Together," your leadership is a living embodiment of that truth. Because of your work, we are more united. Because of your example, we are stronger.
Congratulations, Renee, and thank you for being the change.
2024 Rachel Fuerer
2023 Erin Senkowski
2022 Jackie McDougal
2021 Carol Creilick
2020 Eric Hoppstock
2019 Scott Richards
2018 Laura LaMore
2017 Vanessa Winborne
2016 Greg LaMore
2015 Kathleen Barker
2014 Laurie VanderPloeg
2013 Donna Tinberg
2012 Thomas Koepke
2011 Lucy Hough-Waite
2010 Eleanor White
2009 Kathleen Golinski
2008 Cynthia Smith
2007 Kathy Fortino
2006 Jim Walker
2005 Tom Miller
2004 W. Scott Hubble
2003 Jim Shaw
2002 William Hartl
2001 Michael Dombrowski
2000 Maureen Slade
1999 Robert Dietiker
1998 Jan Baxter
1997 Donald Trap
1996 Thomas J. Rivard
1995 Cherie Simpson
1994 Jay R. Leach
1993 John E. Lindholm
1992 Don Bollinger
1991 Bob Cross
1990 Fred Chappell
1989 June M. Schaefer
1988 Leonard Rezrnierski
1987 Bert Donaldson
1986 Fred Nowland
1985 Ed Birch
1984 Larry Campbell
1983 Tom Howard
1982 Murray Batten
1981 Casmir Schesky
1980 Arnold Larson
1979 Tracy Stockman
1978 Charles Mange
1977 Mary Blair
1976 Joseph Noorthoek
1975 Walter Wend
1974 David Haarer
1973 Marvin Beekman