ACTE Announces Maryland
Director and Professor of CTE as National Award Finalist
ALEXANDRIA, VA—Today, the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) announced Tyler S. Love, Director and Professor of CTE at University of Maryland Eastern Shore, in Baltimore, MD as the 2026 ACTE Region I Teacher Educator of the Year. This award recognizes the finest career and technical education (CTE) educators at the middle, secondary and post-secondary school level who have demonstrated innovation in the classroom, commitment to their students and dedication to the improvement of CTE in their institutions and communities.
Dr. Tyler Love, a faculty member in the Department of the Built Environment at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), is earning national recognition for his leadership in Career and Technical Education (CTE), educator preparation, and school safety. A proud alumnus of UMES, a land-grant Historically Black College and University (HBCU), Dr. Love currently serves as the university’s Director of CTE Programs and Coordinator of Technology and Engineering Teacher Preparation.
As the only tenured professor of CTE in Maryland, Dr. Love has led groundbreaking efforts to expand educator preparation pathways across the state. He developed Maryland’s first higher education commission-approved undergraduate and graduate certificate programs in CTE teaching licensure, work-based learning (WBL), and career counseling. These fully online programs have helped Maryland build a stronger pipeline of qualified CTE teachers, WBL coordinators, and career coaches—ultimately supporting student career and college readiness.
To further support the development of the CTE workforce, Dr. Love has secured more than $1 million in grant funding for initiatives focused on STEM and CTE professional development and on recruiting students from underrepresented backgrounds into STEM teacher education programs.
A nationally respected scholar, Dr. Love’s research centers on safety in CTE and STEM learning environments. He has authored or co-authored over 100 publications—including books, academic standards documents, state safety guides, and journal articles—and is a leading voice on facility overcrowding, instructional risk mitigation, and best practices in hands-on education. His practitioner-focused resources, including new CTE and STEM safety guides for the Delaware and Pennsylvania Departments of Education, have been widely used by educators across the country. His work has received more than 43,000 reads on ResearchGate and holds a Google Scholar h-index of 19 and i10-index of 37.
In 2018, Dr. Love was named Safety Educator of the Year by CareerSafe in recognition of his impactful contributions to school safety.
Through his visionary leadership, cutting-edge research, and unwavering dedication to preparing the next generation of CTE professionals, Dr. Tyler Love continues to elevate the field of career and technical education in Maryland and beyond.
Love is one of five finalists for the 2026 national title. The national winner will be announced at the ACTE Awards Gala, an award presentation recognizing the best CTE educators in the country. The event will take place on December 9, at 7:00 p.m. The Awards Gala is sponsored by Goodheart-Willcox. The Army, and Stratasys. For more information about the ACTE Excellence Awards, visit our webpage.
###
About ACTE
The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) is the nation’s largest not-for-profit association committed to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for successful careers. ACTE represents the community of CTE professionals, including educators, administrators, researchers, school counselors, guidance and career development professionals and others at all levels of education. ACTE is committed to excellence in providing advocacy, public awareness and access to resources, professional development and leadership opportunities.
