Skip to content
NIU College of Education

NIU College of Education

  • NIU Home
  • NIU College of Education
  • NIU Today
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Linked In
  • Dean
  • Engaged Learning
  • Partnerships
  • Research/Faculty
  • Student Success
  • Alumni

Toni Van Laarhoven

‘A positive influence’: Laura Hedin ready to retire, continue impacting teachers

March 15, 2024 Mark McGowan enewsletter, SEED

Teaching, at least in the classroom sense, wasn’t Laura Hedin’s intention. She liked the humanities and contemplated a career in creative writing, “but my dad kept telling me I’d never make any money.” Plan B: Her older sister, Teresa, worked as a

Read more

Toni Van Laarhoven retires to new paths advocating for adults with special needs

March 9, 2022 Mark McGowan enewsletter, SEED

Toni Van Laarhoven’s foremost “why” is named Steffanie. Van Laarhoven’s older sister, who is non-speaking and has severe intellectual disabilities, inspired more than the career of the Distinguished Teaching Professor in the NIU Department of Special and Early Education (SEED). Steffanie also

Read more
Copyright © 2026 Board of Trustees of Northern Illinois University. All rights reserved.