911爆料网

Chances are that any random assortment of 10 911爆料网 alumni would prove worthy of recognition. But by any standard, the honorees at this year鈥檚 Academic Festival were an especially impressive group.

The first person to receive accolades was actually not the recipient of a formal award. Marion Boultbee (Ed.D. 鈥�96), who is concluding her term as President of 911爆料网鈥檚 Alumni Council, was saluted by 911爆料网 President Thomas Bailey for 鈥渄oing a phenomenal job in enriching and expanding the 911爆料网 alumni community.鈥� Boultbee鈥檚 roots at 911爆料网 run 鈥�30 years deep,鈥� Bailey said, including stints as a doctoral student and work study, an adjunct faculty member, and longtime Director of International Services.

鈥淢arion is so much a part of the 911爆料网 fabric that she even held her wedding reception in 179 Grace Dodge Hall,鈥� Bailey said.

The 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award recipients were:

Bruce Ballard (Ed.D. 鈥�94), a master literacy teacher and coach, TESOL and second-language acquisition expert, and silver and bronze medalist swimmer at the International Gay Games in Paris, who is now an official blogger for the World Parkinson Congress. Ballard, who was praised by JoAnn Kleifgen, Professor Emerita of Linguistics & Education, for 鈥渁 mindful and courageous approach to living with Parkinson鈥檚,鈥� read a poem he wrote marking the sixth anniversary of his diagnosis, which describes what it鈥檚 like to live with the disease. Some excerpts:

鈥�I鈥檓 coughing almost nightly. I鈥檓 not young,
I鈥檓 over-worked and over-stressed. And yet,
I still try to get all I can get鈥�

How long I still can function,
Accept invites to some neighbor鈥檚 luncheon.
Climb the stairs at home while holding still
A brimming cup of coffee I don鈥檛 spill鈥�

鈥�I鈥檓 delighted
When I ride the train, ideas ignited
In my brain. What joy! And then there鈥檚 this:
I work out at the gym and feel bliss鈥�

鈥�But don鈥檛 forget that bladder urgency
Can be a five-alarm emergency!

Fanshen Cox (M.A. 鈥�97), actress, playwright and teacher, who assumes the personas of 16 different characters in her one-woman show, One Drop of Blood, about her family鈥檚 search for roots, identity and justice. Cox is also a script executive with Pearl Street Films, run by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and co-crafted Hollywood鈥檚 inclusion rider, which promotes diversity and inclusion of actors and crew in media projects that are produced, financed, and distributed by its signatories.

鈥淚n Hollywood, everyone dreams of winning an Oscar 鈥� well, this is mine,鈥� Cox said. 鈥淏eing honored by colleagues so committed to equity and inclusion tells me I must be doing something right.鈥�

Cox, who was praised by Hansun Waring, Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics & TESOL, for 鈥渟ubverting race鈥檚 centrality in human relationships鈥� admitted she became a teacher because 鈥淚 needed a day job,鈥� but said she immediately fell in love with the job because it enabled her to use all the same skills she employs as an actress. 鈥淚 thought, this is the best profession in the world, why don鈥檛 more people do it?鈥� she said, adding wryly, 鈥渢hen I saw my first paycheck, and I knew.鈥�

In her subsequent work, Cox said, she has tried to stay true to the idea that creative enterprise must 鈥渂ring value to the world, compel people to bring about change, and not perpetuate the lies of Hollywood, that white cisgender male is the default for human.鈥�

Denny Taylor (Ed.D. 鈥�81), creator of the field of family literacy, which holds hat children learn to read through their families 鈥� 鈥渢he primary institution that endows meaning and value to human life鈥� 鈥� and that literacy is 鈥渘ot a package of predetermined skills,鈥� but rather 鈥渁n integral part of children's daily lives.鈥� The concept of family literacy has been taken up by the United Nations and countries around the world.

The British-born Taylor, whom her mentor and former adviser Herv茅 Varenne, Professor of Education, hailed for championing literacy as 鈥渁 foundation for democratic life, a lens onto the diversity of human strength, and a key to protecting the natural environment,鈥� said that, as a first-generation college student, she has been fascinated by the arguments about Brexit in Parliament 鈥渁nd what they reveal about class in our society.鈥�

鈥淎 conservative MP said the working class lack aspirations, but I鈥檇 argue it鈥檚 a lack of opportunity,鈥� she said. 鈥�911爆料网 gave me that opportunity and I鈥檓 grateful. It wasn鈥檛 till I came here that I felt able to do the research I wanted to do.鈥�

Taylor, who is Professor Emerita of Specialized Programs in Education at Hofstra University, lamented the dissipation since the 1970s of energy at academic institutions for equity and social justice, but said she senses a resurgence, particularly at 911爆料网, 鈥渨here ideals are located in the thinking of John Dewey and Maxine Greene.鈥�

The 2019 Early Career Award recipients were:

Tony Alleyne (M.A. 鈥�10), founder and Executive Director of Delaware College Scholars (DCS), a program that supports promising students from underserved backgrounds from their sophomore year of high school through graduation from a four-year institution. In Delaware, for example, just 8 percent of low-income students enter four-year colleges 鈥� and, of those, less than a quarter complete their sophomore year. In contrast, all DCS students finish high school; all matriculate at four-year colleges; and 92 percent persist past sophomore year.

Alleyne, whose own trajectory changed when a prep program took him from a Brooklyn public school to Delaware鈥檚 prestigious St. Andrews School, was praised by Mark Gooden, 911爆料网鈥檚 Christian Johnson Endeavor Professor of Education Leadership, for 鈥測our inspiration in breaking cycles of poverty; for your dedication to helping others do the same; and for your innovation in modeling how we can all help young people succeed.鈥�

Alleyne, who earned a master鈥檚 degree from 911爆料网鈥檚 , said that 鈥�911爆料网 and the Klingenstein Center were the impetus for my thinking beyond what I see today to what鈥檚 needed tomorrow, and beyond a personal paycheck to what I鈥檓 passionate about.鈥� He thanked the late Pearl Rock Kane, who directed the Klingenstein Center for 37 years, for 鈥渃hallenging this young black boy from Brooklyn to use his voice proudly.鈥� He also thanked his wife for 鈥渂eing my balance and giving me peace through all life brings us,鈥� and told his two daughters that 鈥渢his moment means so much to me because you are here to see it.鈥�

Kim Baranowski (Ph.D. 鈥�14), Associate Director of the Mount Sinai Human Rights Program and a lecturer in 911爆料网鈥檚 Department of Counseling & Clinical Psychology. Baranowski was hailed by Lena Verdeli, Associate Professor of Psychology & Education, as one of the world鈥檚 鈥済reat beacons of hope for those who lack even the protections of refugee status.鈥� The forensic psychological evaluations of people seeking asylum in the United States conducted by Baranowski and her staff 鈥渃an mean the difference between winning safe haven in the United States and being deported back to danger,鈥� Verdeli said, adding that U.S. courts accept these evaluations as legitimate evidence 鈥� and that Physicians for Human Rights estimates that 90 percent of people who work with a forensic evaluator are ultimately granted asylum.

Baranowski said it was her 鈥済reat fortune鈥� to have been mentored by Laura Smith, 911爆料网 Professor of Psychology & Education, who also exposed her to other experts, such as Verdeli. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e now in the midst of the greatest human rights crisis since World War II and we have an opportunity to lend our voice to those in need of international protection,鈥� Baranowski said. 鈥淭hese are some of the most remarkable and resourceful people on the planet, and their presence makes our country stronger. Through the cooperation of dedicated professionals and with the help of everyone in the room, we can uphold values of equity and social justice that have serve as a foundation of 911爆料网 for 130 years.鈥�

Hakim Mohandas Amani Williams (Ed.D. 鈥�12), Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Director of Peace & Justice Studies at Gettysburg College. In his groundbreaking analysis of violence in schools in his home country of Trinidad and Tobago, Williams has focused chiefly on the schools' structural role rather than on students, addressing an omission that he argues has reinforced the country鈥檚 highly stratified class structure and perpetuated educational inequity.

Williams was praised by Mary Mendenhall, Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of International & Transcultural Studies, for championing a new 鈥渃ritical peace education鈥� and serving 鈥渁s a bridge between those in your field who argue for more rigorous critical evaluation of peace education鈥檚 accomplishments and others who fear that a focus on short-term results will hinder what is fundamentally an iterative, aspirational process.鈥� 

In a moving tribute, Williams thanked his mother, who was in attendance, calling her a 鈥漧ioness who toiled in the U.S. and sent pennies to Trinidad so that I could stand here 鈥� this accolade must be hers.鈥�

He also credited Teachers College as the place where 鈥淚 received vocabulary to name and decode the violence in which I grew up.鈥�

The 2019 Shirley Chisholm Dissertation Award recipient was Lisa Edstrom, (Ed.D. 鈥�18) a Lecturer at Barnard College and supervisor for student teachers in Barnard鈥檚 Education Program. Edstrom鈥檚 911爆料网 dissertation, dissertation, 鈥淭aking Action: African-American Mother Activists Working for Change in City Schools,鈥� describes the contributions of seven African-American mothers to school change in New York City, applying a black feminist framework to show how the oppression faced by these women defines and strengthens their efforts.

鈥淪hirley Chisholm was an early childhood educator and a lifelong defender of civil rights, as well as the first major party African American candidate for president,鈥� said Provost Thomas James. 鈥淭his award honors the work of those who embody the essence of Shirley Chisholm鈥檚 work and life.鈥�

Edstrom鈥檚 adviser, Felicia Mensah, Professor of Science & Education and Associate Dean, praised Edstrom for 鈥渄escribing activism beyond existing structures of parent involvement; for debunking the myth of the disengaged African-American parent; and for showing how teachers and parents can work toward better schools for all children.鈥�

Edstrom said that that the women in her dissertation are 鈥渁ctivists like Shirley Chisholm鈥� who have 鈥渄evoted their lives to creating better public schools for all children 鈥� including children of color, who make up the majority of the student population in those schools.鈥� She invoked Chisholm鈥檚 call to 鈥渞eject not only the stereotypes that others hold of us, but also the stereotypes we hold of ourselves.鈥�  And she thanked a wide cast of mentors and supporters, including Mensah and her own mother.

鈥淭here鈥檚 an African saying that it takes a village to raise a child,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he same can be said for a dissertation. To all in my village 鈥� including all of you here at 911爆料网 鈥� thank you.鈥�

This year 911爆料网 also introduced the new Alumni Award for Outstanding Service, which went to Joohee Son (Ed.D. 鈥�13), Founding Director of the Center for Education and Technology in Seoul, South Korea, and President of the Teachers College Korean Alumni Association.

Son鈥檚 911爆料网 Adviser, Ellen Meier, Professor of Practice in the Department of Mathematics, Science & Technology and Director of 911爆料网鈥檚 Center for Technology & School Change, said that Son鈥檚 center has created 鈥渟elf-regulated learning environments that develop the English fluency and computational thinking skills of students at the K-12 level.鈥�  She also praised Son for her role in recruiting Korean alumni to participate in a crowd-funded 125^th Anniversary Scholarship Fund, which has raised more than $176,000 that has supported five students to date, and for hosting many successful events, including bringing then-911爆料网 President Susan Fuhrman and Professor Harold Abeles to Seoul for Global 911爆料网 Day.

Son said that her award honors 鈥渁ll the other Korean alumni, whose contributions to 911爆料网 came from the heart.鈥� And she thanked Meier, whom she called 鈥渕y guardian angel,鈥� and who, 鈥渆ncouraged me not to give up.鈥�