Recently, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign kicked off its most ambitious fundraising campaign to date: With Illinois. Your support helps secure the future of innovation at Illinois and provides critical scholarship funds for deserving students. We are stronger because of you. Our mission of addressing the challenges facing today's learners by advancing knowledge and impacting policy through research, teaching, and outreach is one we know you share.
Together, we will redefine higher education and change Illinois and the world for the better.
Next week we will celebrate our 2018 Distinguished Alumni and Young Alumni Achievement Award recipients. This is one of the most special events of the year for the College of Education. Our awardees are nominated by fellow colleagues, former advisers and mentors, and they represent the extraordinary scholarship and service that is the hallmark of our alumni. Read about the accomplishments of this year’s class and consider nominating a former classmate by emailing us at advancement@education.illinois.edu.
In January we observed the passing of an influential and dearly loved member of our faculty, Dr. Bernard “Bud” Spodek. Bud was a pioneer in the area of early childhood education at Illinois and in China, and was known for his work at the Yew Chung Academy and with a former student, Dr. Betty Chan. His lifelong efforts improved the education and teaching of children worldwide, and for that we will forever be grateful.
In this month’s newsletter you will also read a moving story about an Illinois alumnus, Larry D. Jackson, who was so inspired by his grandmother’s dedication to education that he established a fund in her name. Additionally, our alumni continue to do great things nationwide. Mary Lynn Boscardin, Ph.D. ’84 EOL, is the newly named president of the Council for Exceptional Children. And Amanda Kirshner ’04 C&I and La’Tia Taylor ’11 C&I were selected for the Teach Plus Teaching Policy Fellowship. Teach Plus empowers “excellent, experienced teachers to take leadership over key policy and practice issues that affect their students’ success.”
We hope to see you at our reception in New York City during the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Please RSVP if you plan to attend. It’s a great opportunity to reconnect with faculty and fellow alumni.
Yours in Orange and Blue,
Lisa Denson-Rives
Assistant Dean for Advancement
