Ruby L. Owiny, Ph.D.

Dr. Ruby L. Owiny is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Previously, she served as an Associate Professor and Director of the Division of Education at Trinity International University. There, she also designed and directed the Access Program, which supported students with autism as they completed their bachelor’s degree. Ruby believes everyone deserves to be an accepted, contributing member of their community, starting at school. This drives her professional research of inclusive education. She examines how teacher preparation programs prepare teacher candidates to implement Universal Design for Learning, High Leverage Practices, and Evidence-Based Practices. She has 13 years of public-school teaching in Title 1 elementary schools in both general and special education, providing instruction in multiple teaching roles and service delivery models. She has experience consulting around the US and in four other countries and enjoys meeting teachers to learn about the impact they have on their students!

She is a Past President of the Teacher Education Division, and has served on multiple CEC committees (e.g., Representative Assembly Committee) and workgroups (e.g., Student Teacher Support Network). Her most recent project is a co-authored book, slated to be published by the end of the year, The Practical Guide to High-Leverage Practices in Special Education: The Purposeful “How” to Enhance Classroom Rigor.

Ruby lives in Chicagoland with her husband, three children, and 90-year-old mother. Her children experience exceptionalities (giftedness and emotional disorders) which have provided her another lens (parenting) to education for exceptional children, navigating gifted education and 504 plans. When not teaching or consulting, she works to keep up with her kiddos’ activities as a basketball, lacrosse, baseball, and band mom while also enjoying the outdoors - camping, hiking, cycling, and going to the beach, especially with her Whoodle pup, Nova.