Feeling that she had a calling to work with children and students, Dr. Mariann Braten-Hall has committed herself to making a difference and helping her students develop their strengths. She embarked on her studies at Oral Roberts University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in elementary education in 2000. The following year, she began her career as a special education and elementary teacher with the Ponca City Public Schools in Oklahoma. Over the course of this tenure, she continued her own education as well, joining Northwestern Oklahoma State University and graduating with a Master of Education in educational leadership in 2012. Dr. Braten-Hall left the Ponca City Public Schools in 2015 to accept the position of assistant professor of education at Northwestern Oklahoma State University.
Dr. Braten-Hall’s specialties lie in methods and pedagogy, and her duties at Northwestern Oklahoma State include teaching, advising, grading and evaluating students, as well as serving on graduate advisory committees. She has also served on a number of different committees with the university, including the Diversity Committee and the Honors Committee. In 2020, she concluded her formal studies with a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership in Higher Education from her undergraduate alma mater, Oral Roberts University. Her doctoral research was “Cultural Competence in Higher Education Faculty.” Having accomplished much over the course of her career, Dr. Braten-Hall attributes a good deal of her success to her focus on paying attention to her students and working hard to reach them, as well as to the considerable support of her colleagues and fellow educators who share her emphasis on putting students first.
Alongside her primary responsibilities, Dr. Braten-Hall has contributed her skills to a number of other professional endeavors. She has donated her time as a faculty advisor for the Oklahoma Aspiring Educators Association and has also been a member of the organizing committee for the Oklahoma Service Learning Conference, which focuses on the importance of service learning in higher education and the impact those projects have on communities. For excellence in her field, she has been inducted into Who’s Who of Professional Women and will be appearing in the upcoming print edition of the exclusive Who’s Who of Professional Women book. Above these accolades, however, Dr. Braten-Hall considers her most notable achievement to be the impact she has had on her students. She finds it incredibly rewarding and fulfilling to see her students excel and go on to become accomplished teachers in their own right.
Dr. Braten-Hall has been happily married to her husband, Dennis Hall, who is a minister, for over two decades. An active member of her community as well, she is a member of the Assembly of God church and donates her time and energy as she is able. Looking toward the future, she intends to continue her work in higher education and aspires to increase her collaborative efforts with colleagues and fellow educators who share her professional goals and interests. Dr. Braten-Hall emphasizes the importance of a quality education on all levels, and deeply values the diversity of strengths that different people can bring to the classroom and the community as a whole.