Laura Osteen, director of Florida State University’s Center for Leadership and Social Change, was named the 2014 recipient of the Ross Oglesby Award during the Alumni Association’s annual Homecoming Awards Breakfast Saturday, Nov. 8.
The award, which originated in 1973, is given each year by Florida State’s Garnet and Gold Key Leadership Honorary to a faculty or staff member who has, for 10 years or more, exemplified the highest order of integrity, service and commitment to the university and its students.
Osteen said she was honored and humbled to receive the award from Florida State’s “fantastic” students.
“I am honored to be a contribution to the thriving community of FSU, and I am humbled to hold reciprocal relationships with students, colleagues and the men and women at the Center for Leadership and Social Change who teach and guide me daily,” she said.
Osteen, who is respected and popular among Florida State’s students, is an educator and administrator known for her humility and passion to help students succeed, according to Garnet and Gold Key President Sarah Green.
“Dr. Osteen is a huge inspiration to the students of Florida State University, and I am truly blessed to have had her in my own life for the past three-and-a-half years,” said Green, 22, a senior from Pace, Fla., who is majoring in finance and interdisciplinary social science. “She is held in high esteem by students and her peers because the impact she makes in people’s lives is unquantifiable.”
In addition to her duties with the Center for Leadership and Social Change, Osteen is an adjunct faculty member in the College of Education’s Department of Higher Education. Her research interests focus on undergraduate change-agent development, and she is a member of the Leadership Identity Development (LID) research team. The LID model is a framework for undergraduate leadership development programs across the country.
Osteen teaches a “Leadership and Complexity” course in the university’s Undergraduate Leadership Studies Certificate Program. In addition, she is a past recipient of the university’s Uphold the Garnet and Gold Award. She is active in the International Leadership Association, Journal of College and Character editorial board, and LeaderShape Incorporated.
Osteen earned a doctorate in college student personnel with an emphasis in leadership development from the University of Maryland, College Park. She earned a master’s degree in student affairs and higher education from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, and a bachelor’s degree in speech communication from Indiana University, Bloomington.