{"id":130157,"date":"2026-02-26T01:58:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T07:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=130157"},"modified":"2026-02-26T12:11:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T18:11:52","slug":"impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/","title":{"rendered":"Impact in Education: Maribeth Clifton, OTD"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"panel body-content\"><div class=\"panel__container\">\n<p>Maribeth Clifton, OTD, will be the recipient of the Emerging Educator Award at the Impact in Education Awards March 6. The award recognizes an emerging health science educator who demonstrates excellence, dedication and perseverance early in their career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Name:<\/strong> Maribeth Clifton, OTD<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Title:<\/strong> Assistant professor, division of occupational therapy education, UNMC College of Allied Health Professions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Joined UNMC<\/strong>: August 2022<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hometown<\/strong>: Cheyenne, Wyoming<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You are the recipient of the Emerging Educator Award. How has innovation played a part in your teaching career?<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Innovation in my teaching career has meant creating learning experiences that are real, authentic and transformative. I have had the opportunity to work alongside colleagues and community partners to co-design community-engaged learning activities; for example, by inviting children and families from the local community to campus so learners can develop pediatric clinical skills in a supported, low-stakes environment. Across my teaching career, I have collaborated to design community-engaged activities, integrated emerging technologies such as AI and coordinated interprofessional learning experiences that help learners connect meaningfully with content, community and the profession. My innovation also is informed by my scholarship of teaching and learning, including the development of models and tools that deepen my understanding of learners\u2019 experiences and needs. This scholarship continually shapes how I design courses, foster supportive learning environments and refine instructional strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Describe your proudest moment as an educator. <\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My proudest moments as an educator come when I witness learners step confidently into professional roles. I have seen learners present mentored research at conferences, lead innovative capstone projects and later collaborate as professional colleagues. Receiving the inaugural UNMC Doctor of Occupational Therapy Class of 2025 Faculty and Staff Award was particularly meaningful because it reflected the trust and sense of belonging learners felt in my classroom. These moments affirm that the environments I strive to create truly support learners\u2019 growth, identity formation and confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>What advice would you give other faculty members who want to have an impact in education? <\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My advice for faculty who want to have an impact is to begin with relationships. When learners feel they belong, they are more willing to take risks, engage deeply and grow. I also encourage embracing critical reflexivity, the ongoing practice of examining your own social position and how it shapes your perceptions and practices, both personally and as a tool to support learners in understanding their identities as developing professionals. Finally, and perhaps most instrumental in my early career, my advice is to seek mentorship and offer it generously; teaching is relational work, and we grow best when we work together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Do you have a favorite quote or philosophy on teaching?<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My teaching philosophy centers on belonging, reflection and authentic engagement. I believe that teaching is an act of partnership that includes co-creating spaces where learners feel seen, valued and supported as they grow into reflective, compassionate professionals.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Clifton is an assistant professor of occupational therapy education in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":91527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"72308,33280,91786,20926,67555,39612","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-education","department-academic-affairs","department-college-of-allied-health-professions","department-unmc-today-todays-headlines","author_override-unmc-office-of-academic-affairs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Impact in Education: Maribeth Clifton, OTD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Clifton is an assistant professor of occupational therapy education in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Impact in Education: Maribeth Clifton, OTD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Clifton is an assistant professor of occupational therapy education in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-26T07:58:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-26T18:11:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MaribethClifton092722.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"898\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Robb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Robb\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeffrey Robb\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c\"},\"headline\":\"Impact in Education: Maribeth Clifton, OTD\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-26T07:58:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-26T18:11:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/\"},\"wordCount\":476,\"commentCount\":4,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MaribethClifton092722.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/\",\"name\":\"Impact in Education: Maribeth Clifton, OTD\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MaribethClifton092722.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-26T07:58:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-26T18:11:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Dr. Clifton is an assistant professor of occupational therapy education in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MaribethClifton092722.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MaribethClifton092722.jpg\",\"width\":898,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Maribeth Clifton, OTD Dr. Clifton is an assistant professor of occupational therapy education in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Impact in Education: Maribeth Clifton, OTD\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":153,\"caption\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/unmc\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey Robb\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/d09bf41544a3365a46c9077ebb5e35c3\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Impact in Education: Maribeth Clifton, OTD","description":"Dr. Clifton is an assistant professor of occupational therapy education in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Impact in Education: Maribeth Clifton, OTD","og_description":"Dr. Clifton is an assistant professor of occupational therapy education in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","article_published_time":"2026-02-26T07:58:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-26T18:11:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":898,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MaribethClifton092722.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeffrey Robb","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@unmc","twitter_site":"@unmc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeffrey Robb","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeffrey Robb","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c"},"headline":"Impact in Education: Maribeth Clifton, OTD","datePublished":"2026-02-26T07:58:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-26T18:11:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/"},"wordCount":476,"commentCount":4,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MaribethClifton092722.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/","name":"Impact in Education: Maribeth Clifton, OTD","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MaribethClifton092722.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-26T07:58:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-26T18:11:52+00:00","description":"Dr. Clifton is an assistant professor of occupational therapy education in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MaribethClifton092722.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/MaribethClifton092722.jpg","width":898,"height":600,"caption":"Maribeth Clifton, OTD Dr. Clifton is an assistant professor of occupational therapy education in the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/02\/26\/impact-in-education-maribeth-clifton-otd\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Impact in Education: Maribeth Clifton, OTD"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization","name":"University of Nebraska Medical Center","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","width":500,"height":153,"caption":"University of Nebraska Medical Center"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","https:\/\/x.com\/unmc","https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c","name":"Jeffrey Robb","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/d09bf41544a3365a46c9077ebb5e35c3\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130157"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130189,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130157\/revisions\/130189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}