Thursday, May 10, 2007

More in honor of David Elkind

The Tufts University Festschrift last night was just what my unabridged dictionary says it is: "A miscellaneous volume of writing from several hands for a celebration." The celebration was to honor retiring professor, author and child development luminary David Elkind and the writings were delivered orally by a who's who of some of the field's best minds:

Barbara Bowman, a founder of Erikson Institute who is currently working with the Chicago public schools and is a pioneer in access for minority children to quality early childhood education;

Robert Selman, of Harvard and Judge Baker Children's Center, who is best known for his work on children's social competency;

Sharon Lynn Kagan, of Teachers College Columbia University and Yale, internationally recognized for her work on family policy.

Elkind may be the best known of the faculty at Tufts' Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, but he's not by any means the only luminary. Also on hand were colleagues George Scarlett, Robert Sternberg, Fred Rothbaum, David Feldman, Fran Jacobs, Donald Wertlieb, Janet Zeller, and rising star Marina Bers.

Speakers over and over again lauded Elkind for his incredible contributions in many areas of child development but the true highlights of the evening came from two of his three sons, one of whom composed a Dr. Seuss-esque poem in his honor, and from Elkind himself, who is known for his modesty. "I'm always learning something new," he said at the end of the five-hour event., "including something I've learned late in the game about psychology. I raised three sons but now I have three granddaughters and little girls are different from little boys. The adage that little girls are made of sugar and spice is also true, but I have to add this amendment: some of the time."

Posted by Barbara Meltz at 10:56 AM

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