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Charles Kinzer,associate professor ofeducation, serves asco-principal investi-gator of the granttitled “Best Practices,Teacher Preparation,and Technology: Con-nections That EnhanceChildren’s LiteracyAcquisition and Read-ing Achievement.”

Working with investigators at the univer-sities of Georgia, Connecticut, and Illinoisat Chicago, the project known as CTELL(Case Technologies to Enhance LiteracyLearning) uses knowledge about best prac-tices in early literacy education to targetimprovements in teacher education andyoung children’s literacy achievement.

“We want to improve reading achieve-ment nationally through improving teach-ing education nationally,” says Kinzer. Todo that, the grant is developing a case-basedform of anchored instruction that embod-ies these “best practices.”

Case studies, delivered through the Inter-net with CD backup, allow pre-service teach-ers to call up clips of K–3 classroom interactionsfor extended study. Cases contain videos ofclassroom lessons and related materials thatform the basis of anchored instruction andserve as springboards for discussion.

As a result, students analyze the anchorvideos and related case materials; reviewinterviews with teachers, principals, parents,students, and experts around the country;and connect their analysis of classroom issuesto their own practicum experiences and toclass readings in ways that provide an in-depth exploration of teacher decision-mak-ing and classroom interventions.

Years one and two of the grant havebeen devoted to gathering data for the mul-timedia cases and to pilot studies at the fouruniversities. In addition to the classroomsegments and interviews, assessments ofthe elementary students’ reading abilities,examples of their written work, and demo-graphic information on each classroomhave been compiled.

New technologies based on advancementsin Internet capabilities are constantly tested

R E F L E C T O R 32 P E A B O D Y

Disabilities Research CenterEstablished at PeabodyA national center devoted to learning dis-abilities research is being established at PeabodyCollege, thanks to a five-year, $3.5 milliongrant from the U.S. Department of Educa-tion’s Office of Special Education Programs.

The center, a joint project with the Uni-versity of Kansas, will explore alternativemethods for identifying students with learn-ing disabilities. The U.S. Department of Edu-cation estimates that 2.9 million students inAmerica are identified as having some sortof learning disability.

Peabody’s Department of Special Edu-cation will lead the project, conduct research,and provide technical assistance to statesand local school districts. The University ofKansas will offer professional developmentfor general and special educators coordi-nated with the center’s research. The grantwas made to Vanderbilt, which has a sub-contract with the University of Kansas.

Dan Reschly, professor and chair ofPeabody’s Department of Special Education,and Doug Fuchs, professor of special edu-cation, are co-directors of the new center.

“We have a top-ranked special educa-tion department that is recognized for itsresearch and advocacy for people with dis-abilities,” says Peabody Dean Camilla Ben-bow. “I am extremely excited that we can

increase our contribution to the importantdiscussion of how special education is han-dled in this country.”

The most common method for determiningwhether a student has a learning disabilityis the discovery of significant discrepanciesbetween the student’s measured intelligence,or IQ, and his or her learning achievement.Federal special education guidelines are basedon this model of identification.

A portion of the center’s research willinclude study of the variations in state poli-cies and practices for identifying and assess-ing students with learning disabilities thatmay be related to differing incidence levelsand outcomes.

“There has been a lot of discussion aboutthe high numbers of students being deemedas having special education needs,” saysReschly. “Our concern is less about the num-bers, but about the appropriateness of stu-dent classification.”

In addition to trying to develop moreaccurate means of classification, centerresearchers will explore the impact of sys-tematic educational instruction, such as earlyintervention reading programs, on the inci-dences of student classification. “Our goalis to provide research that will help shapemore valid and useful federal guidelines forthe states and local districts to implement,”says Fuchs.

$5.5 Million Effort SeeksImproved Reading Education

You are a new teacher assigned to a second-grade classroom. Throughout your under-graduate years, you’ve labored throughlesson plans, observed in practica, and stu-dent-taught in two different classrooms.Now you’re planning your first unit in read-ing, but do you really know what to expect?How can a new teacher best teach readingin classrooms characterized by diversity instudent background, learning ability, andsocial interaction?

At Peabody a five-year, $5.55 million grant,funded by the National Science Foundationthrough the Interagency Education ResearchInitiative, leads an effort to train pre-serviceteachers to make classroom decisions rootedin teaching practices proven effective in rais-ing levels of reading achievement.

2 P E A B O D Y

feed BACKPEABODY PRIDE

I just received the Win-ter 2001 issue of THE

PEABODY REFLECTOR.I am so grateful tohave received it be-cause I feel there are many things I am thank-ful for, including the many advantages givenme when I studied at Peabody for my B.A.and M.A.

I am particularly interested to learnthat Peabody has risen to the top five [amongcolleges of education] in the nation. I havealways treasured Peabody’s education pro-gram, which helped to make me what I amnow. That is why I will always maintain con-tact with Peabody.

What an issue! There are so many excel-lent features for me to read. May I take thisopportunity to congratulate you and yourstaff for the excellent work in producing thisissue of the REFLECTOR.

—SIEW TUNG WONG, BA’70, MA’71Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia

PRESIDENTIAL SWEETS

My wife, Marjorie Gay Tuck, MA’57, andI enjoy THE PEABODY REFLECTOR. We areproud of our institution and try to keep upwith life on the campus. We especially enjoyedthe article on alumni who are or were col-lege and university presidents [“Movers,Shakers, & Policymakers,” Winter 2001, p.22]. I served as president of California Bap-tist College from 1984 to 1994 and am nowpresident, emeritus.

—RUSSELL R. TUCK, MA’57, PHD’71Gainesville, Va.

Thank you for your recent feature articleon Peabody alumni serving in the role ofchief executive officer of colleges and uni-versities. Julia Helgason assembled the sto-ries of an impressive group of educationleaders from around the nation. The num-ber of alumni serving in leadership positionsis a clear indication of Peabody’senduring dedication to excel-lence in both private and pub-lic education.

Although I am not a president,chancellor, or provost, I count someof those cited in the article as “friends in

high places.” As a director in theprofessional issues department atthe American Association of Col-leges for Teacher Education, I havethe privilege of working with them.And besides that connection, I,

too, have Peabody College in common.—JOYCE HUTH MUNRO, PHD’85

Washington, D.C

Thank you for the Winter 2001 issue of theREFLECTOR, including the story on collegepresidents with Peabody degrees. Julia Hel-gason really did a fine job of pulling togethera cross-section of former students to profile.

Of equal interest to me is the presentdevelopment in the higher education pro-gram under the leadership of [Departmentof Leadership and Organizations Chair] JimGuthrie. He came from a campus that hasone of the better programs in higher edu-cation and understands the differences inthe administration of public schools andcolleges and universities.

During the time I was there, every per-son who headed the educational leadershiparea had been a school superintendent withno concept of what we were trying to do. Infact, when I finished my [doctoral] degreeat the University of Michigan, the depart-ment head told me there was no place forme at Peabody, and the sooner I left the bet-ter. He himself left within a couple of years,and somehow I think there was, indeed, aplace for me and for a program in highereducation. I am delighted to see the programin good hands.

Many thanks for an excellent issue.—IDA LONG ROGERS, MA’51

Professor of higher educationadministration, emerita

Peabody College, Nashville

Thank you for sending copies of the latestPEABODY REFLECTOR. I also appreciate yourcongratulations on my accomplishments as

president of Northern Arizona Uni-versity, Wichita State

University and,most rec-

ently, Eastern Kentucky University. I havebeen fortunate to have had excellent men-tors—beginning at Peabody—and then excel-lent team members at each of the institutions I served.

—EUGENE M. HUGHES, PHD’68Richmond, Ky.

AND BABY MAKES THREE

Happy, excited, and elated—that’s how I feltwhen the latest PEABODY REFLECTOR arrived.I am so pleased that you felt the Wolfe-John-son story [“A Debt of Gratitude,” Winter2001, p. 54] was worthy of being printed.The article is well written, and you did agood job picking out the main facts. Theonly thing I would change is the fact thatnow we have three grandchildren—but that’smy fault; I didn’t mention it in our lastcorrespondence.

Thank you so much for the story and thetime spent putting it all together!

—VIRGINIA PERRY JOHNSON, BS’49San Jose, Calif.

A MATTER OF RECORD

The article about the history of the REFLEC-TOR [“Cover to Cover: 110 Years of THE

PEABODY REFLECTOR,” Winter 2001, p. 34]was very interesting. One small correction:[Original REFLECTOR publisher] Jacques Backwas founder and first publisher of the Observer,which is a publication of the Nashville Jew-ish community. It is not a statewide publi-cation. Founded in 1935, the Observer nowis published bimonthly by the Jewish Fed-eration of Nashville.

I receive Vanderbilt Magazine regularlyand enjoy reading it. But, although I receivedmy M.L.S. from Peabody, this was the firsttime I’d seen the REFLECTOR, which isthe same high quality as the Vanderbiltalumni publication.

—ANNETTE RATKIN, MLS’75Archivist, Jewish Federation of Nashville

and Middle Tennessee, Nashville

THE TRIBUTES CONTINUE

Your article on favorite Peabody profes-sors [Spring 2001] moved me immensely.William Griffin, under whose direction Iearned honors in English, remained a men-

tor and help to me throughout my

Continued on page 4

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Dan Reschly and Doug Fuchs

Charles Kinzer

Vanderbilt Mentoring Program, directed byMargaret Smithey, senior lecturer in educa-tion, and Carolyn Evertson, professor ofeducation, trains established Nashville teach-ers to be mentors and then partners themwith two new teachers.

Graciela Escobedo, assistant superinten-dent of human resources for the Nashvilleschool system, hopes the mentoring programwill enable the system to retain many of itsnew teachers by helping them bridge the con-fusion and get a jump start on the job.

“We know what the research shows,”says Escobedo. “Teachers whose feet aresolidly planted on the ground, who knowthe ins and outs of the system, and whoknow the curriculum feel a lot better andmore valued.”

Last summer nearly 90 Nashville teach-ers were trained by the Peabody program tobe mentors to 162 new or beginning teach-ers during the 2001–2002 school year. Theprogram actually has been used around the

ers,” says Kinzer. “What this grant does isboth test and build on research that hasbeen done nationally in the last five yearsconcerning effective teaching practices forpre-service teachers. Through CTELL wewill test the effects of these practices inschools to see if multimedia case-based,anchored instruction in teacher trainingresults in better readers.”

Mentoring Program TrainsFirst-Time Teachers

A mentoring program initiated by Peabodylast summer is helping first-time MetroNashville schoolteachers overcome the hur-dles of being a new classroom teacher orlearning a new school system.

Each year about 9 percent of new teach-ers in Nashville quit because they becomeoverwhelmed by the paperwork, bewilderedby having a class of their own all day, andconfounded by intricacies of the system. The

to make these materials available to a wideaudience. Currently, these new technologiesallow Peabody students to cut and pastevideo clips for classroom presentations andeven e-mail customized video segments tostudents at other universities to broaden theirdiscussions on effective reading practices.

This summer the CTELL project is train-ing 20 professors of reading education fromdifferent universities in the anchored-instruc-tion, case-based approach. In year three,data will be collected at these 20 universi-ties on those using the system and comparedto a corresponding set of control classrooms.By year four, the first set of teachers trainedusing the CTELL approach will be teachingreading in their own classrooms. The grantwill follow these teachers in their first andsecond years of teaching and compare theoutcomes of their classes with those taughtby reading teachers not influenced by CTELL.

“Our argument is that we need to do amore effective job teaching our future teach-

having an impact in Nashville; as of late fall,none of the mentored teachers had left thesystem. “They are so excited, so hyped.It’s wonderful.”

Susan Gray SchoolGets State’s Top Rating

The Susan Gray School for Children atPeabody College has received a three-starrating under Tennessee’s new Star Qual-ity system for evaluating child-care centersfor their performance beyond the state’sminimum licensing requirements. Three

country for several years and has shown pos-itive results, says Smithey.

An independent study of the programamong new Midwest teachers showed thatthose with trained mentors “more effectivelymanaged their classroom and had more on-task behavior.”

“A large majority of the mentor teachershave reported they are very positive abouttheir opportunities to mentor new teachers,”says Smithey, “and they believe they havecontributed significantly to the new teach-ers’ successes.”

Escobedo says the program seems to be

4 P E A B O D Y R E F L E C T O R 5R E F L E C T O R 5

D E P A R T M E N T N O T E S

Human and Organizational Development

Joseph J. Cunningham, department chair and asso-ciate professor of special education, has beenawarded a $996,770 research grant by the U.S.Department of Education for “GEAR UP Nashville.”Marcy Singer Gabella is co-principal investigator.

Craig Anne Heflinger, associate professor of humanand organizational development, has been awardeda $227,125 research grant by the Public HealthService for “Co-Occurring Drug and Mental Dis-orders in Youth.”

William L. Partridge, professor of human andorganizational development and acting associatedean for research, published a paper, “The Pop-ulation Displaced by Armed Conflict in Colom-bia,” in the fall 2001 issue of the journal SocialJustice. The paper was drawn by Partridge’s twoyears of work as senior adviser for the UnitedNations High Commissioner on Refugees, Bogota,Colombia. He recently edited the book Reasen-tamiento en Colombia, published jointly by theWorld Bank, the U.N. High Commissioner onRefugees, Office of the President of Colombia,and the Corporacion Antioquia Presente, the lat-ter a non-governmental organization serving theneeds of displaced people.

Sharon L. Shields, professor of the practice ofhealth promotions and education, was honoredat Vanderbilt’s fall Faculty Assembly for 25 yearsof service to the University. She began her careerat Peabody as an assistant professor of health andphysical education, later becoming associate pro-fessor and then professor of the practice of healthpromotion and education. She also was educa-tion and research director of the Health Promo-tion Center at Vanderbilt Medical Center from1982 to 1989. She has won numerous nationalawards, the Vanderbilt Affirmative Action andHuman Rights Award, and is noted for her ser-vice-learning courses.

Paul Speer, associate professor of human andorganizational development, has been awardeda $27,816 research grant by the Raskob Foun-dation for Catholic Activities for “Raskob Skip-per Initiative Evaluation Project.”

Leadership and OrganizationsJohn M. Braxton, professor of education, hasbeen elected to serve as president of the Associ-ation for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE).During his three-year term, he first will serve asvice president, then as president, and then asimmediate past president.

Braxton also has been invited to serve on the PeerReview Panel for the Office of Research Integrityof the National Institutes of Health.

R. Wilburn Clouse, associate professor of edu-cation, has been awarded a $50,000 researchgrant by the Coleman Foundation for “Entre-preneurs in Action.”

undergraduate major in English, gradu-ate school at Georgetown University, andmy career, until his death.

Edwin Anderson’s course “The Bibleas Literature” was foundational to a life-long pursuit. The grounding Susan Rileygave me in literature—and the wisdom sheoffered me, a student struggling to surviveon limited means—provided another under-pinning. John Brewton’s gentle introduc-tion to children’s literature providedbackground I needed as a teacher andmissed as a child.

But there were other faculty—those notmentioned in your article: Warren Titus,Sam Wiggins, Lalla Walker, Jewell Phelps,Susan Gray, Milton Shane, Clifton Hall—all different, all excellent. There’s no ques-tion but that Bill Griffin influenced andgave me the most, but the ideals, learning,example, and support from the Peabodyfaculty shaped my professional and per-sonal life profoundly.

I recently spoke at my university’s annualteaching conference on what I’ve learnedin my years as a teacher (I took early retire-ment in December); I began by saying thatI wanted first to honor my teachers at

Peabody, who gave me what I needed toteach and learn throughout life.

—MIRIAM WATKINS MEYERS, BA’62Professor, emerita, literature and language

Metropolitan State University, Minneapolis

I came out of college with a bachelor’sdegree and no real plans to be a teacher.I thought I would just go into the work-force. I applied to several schools and wasturned down, so I went to Peabody andtalked with Dr. [L. Lawton] Gore. He sug-gested I might want to study toward teach-ing credentials—“as a backup”—and advisedme to sign up for practice teaching. I enjoyedthe classes and the relaxed atmosphere,and it was inspiring to be taught by some-one who truly enjoyed teaching.

On the first day of my practice teach-ing in an inner-city high school, I wasintroduced to the class and the teacherput me in charge. I immediately felt athome and knew teaching was the placefor me. The Industrial Education Depart-ment was being phased out there atPeabody, and Dr. Gore gave me manyteaching aids that I used in my teaching

career for 42 years.I have retired now and look back on

the inspiration and the “fire that was litunder me” by Dr. Gore. I have taught highschool, was a high-school principal anda university professor because of the car-ing concern Dr. Gore exhibited as a teacherand friend who saw in me talents worthdeveloping.

I would like to thank his daughters[Elaine Gore Amis, BA’52, and BarbaraGore Bomar Kortrey, BA’55], who wrotein the REFLECTOR about their father [inthe feature “Your Favorite Professors,”Spring 2001, p. 21]. They reminded meof how much I owe Dr. Gore for the ful-filling career I have enjoyed as a teacher.It is regrettable that I probably did nottell him what an inspiration he was to me.

—JOHN T. DURICHEK, MA’59Collegedale, Tenn.

Your letters are welcome and may be sub-mitted to THE PEABODY REFLECTOR, Edi-tor, VU Station B 357703, 2301 VanderbiltPlace, Nashville, TN 37235. Letters maybe edited for length.

feed BACK continued Education leadersand practitioners

from around theworld gathered atPeabody on March25 and 26 to hear theresults of a uniquestudy on the globalimpact of informa-tion technology onlearning. Nearly 100individuals from 13countries met on cam-pus for the first NorthAmerican conferenceof the Organisation of Economic Coop-eration and Development (OECD). A 30-member international consortium basedin Paris, the OECD comprises industri-alized countries in North America, Europe,and Asia and develops policy in variousfields related to economic development.

Conference chair Ken Wong, Peabodyprofessor of public policy and educationand a member of the OECD task forcethat directed the three-year study, says that23 countries, including the United States,Canada, France, Belgium, and Japan,looked at how information technology isbeing used in their classrooms and evalu-ated its impact on learning. “This studyis providing a good baseline for us in under-standing the overall conditions surroundinginformation and communication tech-nologies in our schools,” Wong says.

Findings are sure to impact future edu-cation practices, both in industrialized andless developed countries. According to

Wong, students in industrialized countriesin North America, Europe, and Asia accountfor only 15 percent of the world’s studentpopulation. “This means that 85 percentof students in the world are waiting to seewhat we do next. Countries in Latin Amer-ica and Africa, for example, are trying tolearn from OECD countries so they canget a jump start on bringing learning tech-nologies into their classrooms.”

In this photo, Colette Chabbott of theNational Academy of Sciences asks aquestion of Dorit Tubin of Tel Aviv Uni-versity in Israel. Next to her is Profes-sor Alain Breuleux of McGill Universityin Montreal. This particular session,called “Information and Communica-tion Technology and School Reform: AnInternational View,” also involved KenWong, Richard Venezky of the Univer-sity of Delaware, Darrell Fraser-Glen ofWaverly College in Australia, and JeanneMarie Ho of Singapore.

Peabody Hosts Global Conference on Learning Technologies

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R E F L E C T O R 76 P E A B O D Y

stars is the highest rating for this system.Centers receive one, two, or three stars

based on many criteria, including staff train-ing and parental involvement. One goal ofthe system is to provide par-ents with an excellent andeasily understood guide toselecting high-quality care.

Tennessee is in its firstyear of using this system toevaluate the estimated 4,000child-care centers across thestate. To date, 230 child-care agencies have chosento take part in Star Quality.Of those, 95 have received three stars, 108have two stars, and 27 have one star.

The Susan Gray School, named for oneof Peabody’s most revered early researchersin special education, is an early childhoodeducation program for young children withand without disabilities. It serves about 150children on site and, for children with dis-abilities, in homes and community settings.The School, which is operated jointly byPeabody College and the John F. KennedyCenter for Research on Human Develop-ment, also serves as a site for training, research,and demonstration.

“Peabody College is proud of the SusanGray School’s three-star distinction,” saysPeabody Dean Camilla Benbow. “The rat-ing is consistent with the School’s traditionof exemplary service and leadership in theeducation of young children.”

Pedestrian Bridge to ConnectVandy, Peabody Campuses

Nashville’s Metro Planning Commission hasapproved plans for a $1.9 million elevatedbridge spanning 21st Avenue to benefit pedes-trians traveling between the Vanderbilt andPeabody campuses.

The bridge will cross the heavily congestedstreet just south of the Edgehill Avenue inter-section, with endpoints near Magnolia Cir-cle on the Peabody side and the School ofNursing’s Godchaux Hall on the other. Stu-dents and staff who cross the street daily willbe provided a safer, faster commute.

“The Edgehill Avenue intersection is thehypotenuse to the route through the Med-ical Center that most people tend to takebetween the two campuses,” says JudsonNewbern, associate vice chancellor for campus planning and construction.

Crossing at the Edgehill intersection makessense from an engineering standpoint, he says,as the points of entry at either end of the bridgeare on the same elevation. The ongoing con-

struction of Vanderbilt’s Bio-sciences/Medical ResearchBuilding III through whichthe new pedestrian way willrun, adjacent to Godchaux,also makes practical the pro-ject, which has been discussedfor years.

The bridge will be 400feet in length, rising 17 feetabove 21st Avenue. Current

plans call for brick columns at both ends,as well as the words “Vanderbilt Univer-sity” across the bridge’s span. Boston-basedWilliam Wilson Associated Architects, whichdesigned the biosciences building and theStevenson chemistry building, is designingthe bridge, which is scheduled for comple-tion late this fall.

AIDS Activist Honoredat King Commemoration

The Rev. Edwin C. Sanders II, founder ofNashville’s Metropolitan Interdenomina-tional Church and a man committed to edu-cating the African American communityabout HIV and AIDS, is the 2002 recipientof the “Changing Lives” Award given jointlyby Peabody’s Department of Psychologyand Human Development and Departmentof Special Education.

The award is presented each January dur-ing Vanderbilt’s Martin Luther King Jr. Com-

Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey, right, associateprofessor of psychology and chair of Peabody’sDepartment of Psychology and Human Devel-opment, introduces “Changing Lives” Award-winner Rev. Edwin Sanders, center, to RichMilner, new research assistant professor ofteaching and learning. Sanders was honoredfor his life of service to others.

Mark David Hindy, 28, a graduate ofPeabody’s human and organizational devel-opment program and a former Commodoresbaseball pitcher, was among the victims ofthe Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Cen-ter in New York. An equity trader at Can-tor Fitzgerald, the financial securities firmdevastated by the attacks, Hindy worked onthe 104th floor of the WTC’s North Tower.A memorial celebration of his life took placeSept. 24 in Brooklyn, drawing more than1,200 family members, friends, and for-mer teammates. Among those former team-mates was David W. Daniels, BA’95, whohas written this tribute to his friend.

About 30 of us made our way down toMcGugin Field the fall of my fresh-

man year, each carrying hope that a solid per-formance would catch the eye of a coach andearn us a spot on the varsity roster as a walk-on. By the end of the week, five of us wereallowed to join the team on a conditionalbasis—promised nothing but expected to giveeverything at all times.

My first impression of the fellow walk-on who lived four doors down from myBranscomb dorm room was of a hulking,crew-cut-trimmed giant from Brooklyn whokept to himself. Finally introducing ourselvesto each other, Mark and I began to enjoyshagging fly balls in the outfield, runningpartnered wind sprints, dining together inthe cafeteria, and walking back to our dormroom at the end of a long day.

What drew me immediately to this gen-tle giant was an infectious laugh and a deter-mination to make it on his own. He took agreat chance coming so far from the securityof his family and friends 1,100 miles away,while I simply stayed in my own backyardof Nashville. The best decision I ever madein college was to take him up on his offerto live together at the end of our freshmanyear. During our three years as roommatesand bullpen mates, I learned that this was aspecial man blessed with an enduring charm,a humble nature, and many loves.

Of course, he loved sports. He reveredbaseball, but he would strive daily to updateus on the status of his beloved Giants andKnicks. With a chuckle and a precision doc-umented by the USA Today he had studiedthat morning in the Sarratt Student Center,he would inform us during batting practiceof the outstanding personal performances atMadison Square Garden the previous evening.Although the spring semester of our sopho-more year had already concluded a few weeks

earlier, many of us received an informativeround of spirited phone calls that Knicker-bocker John Starks had just dunked overMichael Jordan during the NBA playoffs. Hecarried such a pride in the game we were sofortunate to share.

During our collegiate career, the pitchingstaff doubled as groundskeepers, preparingthe diamond for a game and maintainingit after a contest. While Coach Mewbournetrusted me with the tremendous responsi-bility of raking the batter’s box, Mark wasassigned the task of driving the John Deeretractor in graceful figure-eights around theinfield to smooth its dirt surface. Comparedto our SEC opponents’ cathedral stadi-ums, our field resembled a scene from Val-ley Forge, but Mark took great pride inmanicuring its infield. In fact, when vandalsturned on the sprinklers the night before webegan our series with Tennessee, his first viewof the flooded field forced a couple of tears.

Make no mistake—he was a big guy, andhe loved food. But it really wasn’t the foodthat made him happy; it was the fact thata meal was the best time for all of us tospend time together. Proud of the Bay Ridgedelis that had successfully sustained him for18 years, he introduced us to the finestbreads, meats, and cheeses any of us hadever tasted. Mark would either box thesegoods in dry ice before boarding a plane forNashville, or he would simply call his mother,Ginny, and ask for help in feeding his fiveother suitemates. He was a great cook whoseSunday tradition of homemade spaghettidelighted not only his roommates but alsothe group of girls next door (whose furni-ture we enjoyed hiding during their Mon-day-night sorority meetings).

Mark’s diet was also an important obser-

vation of the religious faith to which he wasdearly devoted. While many of us loaded mymother’s giant grill with steaks and ham-burgers Friday nights after practice, he insistedupon purchasing for himself and sharing afilet of mahimahi or salmon. Having promisedhis mother that he would not allow a busyschedule of books and baseball to interferewith attending mass, Mark would sometimescreep in a few minutes late for a Sunday SECgame since traffic was bad from the cathe-dral on West End. My friend never took him-self or his faith too seriously: I asked himour sophomore year what he was giving upfor Lent, and with a laugh he answered, “Itlooks like homeruns!”

But, most important, Mark loved his fam-ily. He is the immediate reflection of two ofthe most special people I have ever met. Georgeand Ginny Hindy have a special gift of smoth-ering compassion upon everyone who acceptsthe open invitation into their beautiful home.Answering a phone call from either one ofthem, I was honored to reply to their inquirieson the status of my classes, my arm, and thehealth of my parents.

Mark had no better role model thanthe man he admired most, his older brother,Greg. Like his father, Greg prefers an aggres-sive hug versus a handshake and possessesthe beautiful habit of bringing out the bestin everyone he meets. Mark was the bestman at Greg and Lorraine’s wedding, over-whelming family and friends with an unfor-gettable toast to their new life together. Theirfirst child, Olivia, became the apple of heruncle’s loving eye. In the truest sense, theywere the best of friends.

She will never forget her “Uncle Markie”who, as she raises a finger toward the sky,“is with the angels.”

—David W. Daniels, BA’95

In April the Vanderbilt Athletic Departmentunveiled a plaque honoring Mark Hindy thatgraces the entrance to the University’s newbaseball stadium, and the department is estab-lishing a memorial fund in Hindy’s name.The University also has renamed its annualathlete-alumni golf tournament “The MarkHindy Memorial Tournament.” Because ofHindy’s protective love of children, his fam-ily has established the Mark Hindy Charita-ble Foundation Inc., which will assist variouschildren’s charities. For information on howyou may help to support either memorialfund, please contact the Vanderbilt AthleticDepartment by calling 615/343-3109.

Peabody Loses Alumnus in Sept. 11 Attacks

Mark Hindy, left, and David Daniels dur-ing their Commodore Baseball days

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A Tribute to Mark Hindy (BS’95)1973–2001

D E P A R T M E N T N O T E S

Clouse was recently appointed to the ColemanSenior Entrepreneurship Scholars Consortium,which helps design strategies and develop policyto move the field of entrepreneurship forward.

Janet Eyler, professor of the practice of educa-tion, was honored at Vanderbilt’s fall FacultyAssembly for 25 years of service to the Univer-sity. She joined the Peabody faculty in 1976 andhas served in numerous administrative capacities,including special assistant to the dean, assistantdirector of the VIPPS Center for Education andHuman Development Policy, assistant dean, asso-ciate dean, and director of Human Resource Devel-opment and Organizational Leadership graduateprograms. A co-author of two books and authorof nine book chapters, she received the NationalSociety for Experiential Education’s OutstandingResearch Award in 1998.

Ellen B. Goldring, professor of educational lead-ership, was invited to give the annual DistinguishedFaculty Lecture during last October’s meeting ofthe Peabody Alumni Association Board of Direc-tors. Alumni, faculty, and students attended thelecture, titled “Going to School Closer to Home:Desegregation and the End of Court-Ordered Bus-ing.” Goldring’s research focuses on the organi-zation and control of schools. She studies educationalreform, principal leadership and parental involve-ment, with particular emphasis on schools ofchoice. She is co-author of two books, Principalsof Dynamic Schools (2000) and School Choicein Urban America: Magnet Schools and the Pur-suit of Equity (1999).

Goldring has been awarded a $132,848 researchgrant by the W.T. Grant Foundation for “Reclaim-ing Communities: Diversity, Equity, and Accessin the Post-Busing Era.” Claire Smrekar and RobertL. Crowson are co-principal investigators.

James W. Guthrie, department chair and pro-fessor of public policy and education, has beenelected to the board of directors of the AmericanEducation Finance Association.

Stephen P. Heyneman, professor of internationaleducation policy, has been awarded a $299,652research grant by the U.S. Department of Statefor “Institutional Partnerships in Educational Pol-icy, Higher Education Management, and Educa-tional Leadership: A Program of Cooperation.”

Mark W. Lipsey, research professor of public pol-icy, has been awarded a $248,990 research grantby the National Institute of Justice for “Meta-Analytic Database on Effectiveness of DelinquencyPrograms: Update, Analysis, and Dissemination.”

Michael K. McLendon, assistant professor ofpublic policy and education, has had his dis-sertation selected as National Dissertation ofthe Year by the Association for the Study ofHigher Education.

Kenneth K. Wong, professor of public policy andeducation, has been awarded a $280,043 researchgrant by the U.S. Department of Education for“Supplemental Analyses of the Longitudinal Eval-

Psychology research at Vander-

bilt, including that of Peabody Col-

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Institutes of Health among psy-

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Committee on HIV and STD Prevention bythen-Secretary of Health and Human Ser-vices Donna Shalala. The same year, he wasa participant in the “Healthy 2000” ProgressReview conducted by U.S. Surgeon GeneralDavid Satcher. He has been a presenter atthe last two World AIDS Conferences—inGeneva, Switzerland, and Durban, SouthAfrica—and speaks regularly in other forumsthroughout the United States regardingHIV/AIDS and substance-abuse issues.Recently, he was invited to serve on the Pres-idential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.

The “Changing Lives” Award was pre-sented to Sanders by Kathleen Hoover-Dempsey, associate professor and chair ofthe Department of Psychology and HumanDevelopment, and Daniel J. Reschly, pro-

memoration to recognize individuals whoselives of service embody the values put forthby King.

Attracting a broad cross-section of peo-ple, the Metropolitan InterdenominationalChurch has outreach ministries in the areasof substance abuse, sexual violence, harmreduction, and children’s advocacy, in addi-tion to providing services to persons infectedwith, and affected by, HIV and AIDS throughthe church’s First Response Center, for whichSanders serves as executive director.

Until recently, Sanders served as pas-toral counselor for Meharry Medical Col-lege’s alcohol and drug abuse program,where he was responsible for the spiritualcomponent of the program. He also for-merly was director of the Southern Prison

Ministry in Nashville and dean of the chapelat Fisk University.

Sanders earned his bachelor’s degree inanthropology from Wesleyan University(Connecticut), where he has served as amember of the board of trust and as co-director of the African American Institute,and he has done graduate work at Yale andVanderbilt divinity schools. He holds mem-bership in the Nashville Branch of the NAACP,the Alcohol and Drug Council of MiddleTennessee, and the Tennessee Human RightsCommission, and is president of the Inter-denominational Ministers’ Fellowship. Heis past chairperson of the Ryan White Com-munity AIDS Partnership.

In April 1998 Sanders was appointedto the Centers for Disease Control Advisory

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8 P E A B O D Y R E F L E C T O R 9

fessor and chair of the Department of Spe-cial Education.

Preceding the presentation were remarksby Ralph M. Thompson,assistant superintendentof middle schools forMetro Nashville PublicSchools. Thompson is alongtime educator whohas distinguished himself as an adminis-trator at the elementary, middle, and highschool levels. He has received “Teacher ofthe Year” and “Principal of the Year” hon-ors, and the Phi Delta Kappa organizationfor professional educators has named him“Educator of the Year.” Recently, he wasinducted into the Tennessee State UniversityCollege of Education Wall of Fame.

Mayor-Led School BoardsStop Finger-Pointing

The work of a Peabody professor is help-ing cities across the country redesign the gov-erning structures of their school systems inan effort to become more effective at teach-ing and more accountable to the public.

About five years ago Kenneth Wong, pro-fessor of public policy and education andassociate director of the Peabody Center forEducation Policy, did a comparative studyof how schools in Chicago and Birming-ham, England, are governed. Chicago andBirmingham are sister cities and similar insize, ethnic makeup, and challenges facingtheir schools.

“At that time,” Wong explains, “Chicagowas the first major urban school system inthe country under mayoral governance.Members of the school board are appointedby the mayor and accountable to the mayor.”This structure is in contrast to the more tra-ditional formation in which voters electschool board members.

“We have about 15,000 school boardsacross the country,” Wong says. “Ninetypercent of these are elected, and nearly allof these govern smaller school systems. Ofthe approximately 30 largest systems, mostare moving toward mayoral-appointed orjoint-appointed school boards in which themayor and governor share power.”

Wong’s report was the first in the UnitedStates to capture how changes in governancecreate a different set of conditions that affectteaching and learning in the classroom. Asa result of mayoral control in Chicago, new

policies had direct consequences on schools,teachers, and students. For example, someof the lower performing schools were placed

on probation by theschool board and requiredto develop school-improvement plans. Inthe seven schools placedon probation, five prin-

cipals were fired and 30 percent of teacherswere replaced.

Chicago further improved its system byfollowing the lead of its sister city. Wongfound that the Birmingham system recruitsexperienced administrators and teachers toserve on an advisory board that helps poorlyperforming schools identify and addressproblems. The Birmingham advisory boardhas proven so successful that upon readingthe report, the Chicago school system imple-mented similar system-wide support.

Other policymakers also have takennotice: Wong’s report was used as a blue-print by the Ohio governor and legislativeleaders when they drafted legislation allow-ing the mayor of Cleveland to take overCleveland’s schools.

A decline in public confidence is behindthe movement, explains Wong. “Nation-wide, confidence in public schools has declined

from 58 percent in 1973 to 36 percent today.The public has deep and widespread con-cerns, and when they express these concerns,those in charge begin to point fingers—themayor blames the school board who blames

uation of School Change and Performance in TitleI Schools.”

Wong had a lead article, “Rethinking the FiscalRole of the States in Public Education,” publishedin the October 2001 issue of Government FinanceReview. The journal is the membership magazineof the 15,000-member Government Finance Offi-cers Association of the United States and Canada.Wong also was invited by the Wisconsin Depart-ment of Public Instruction to give the keynoteaddress at its annual statewide conference onschool improvement in February.

Psychology and Human Development

Camilla P. Benbow, Peabody dean and professorof psychology, has been elected to the executivecommittee of the Association of Colleges andSchools of Education in State Universities, LandGrant Colleges, and Affiliated Private Universi-ties. The organization is the national associationfor deans of colleges of education. Benbow alsohas been asked to serve on the Organization ofInstitutional Affiliates Executive Committee forthe American Educational Research Association.

Benbow has served on a National Research Coun-cil panel on Advanced Study of Mathematics andScience in American High Schools. In March thepanel released its report, titled “Learning andUnderstanding: Improving Advanced Study ofMathematics and Science in U.S. High Schools.”

Benbow traveled to Washington, D.C., in Marchto attend the White House Conference on Prepar-ing Tomorrow’s Teachers. The conference andluncheon with First Lady Laura Bush were heldat the White House as part of her “Ready to Read,Ready to Learn” initiative. The conference broughttogether university and business leaders, teacher-education advocates, teachers’ unions, public pol-icy organizations, and foundations that share aninterest in enhancing teacher quality. In additionto presentations by representatives of these groups,the conference included remarks by Laura Bush,President George W. Bush, and Secretary of Edu-cation Rod Paige.

Leonard Bickman, professor of psychology andprofessor of psychiatry, has been awarded tworecent grants by the Public Health Service: $432,748for “Improving Pediatricians’ Use of AD/HDGuidelines” and $408,681 for “Enhancing ADHDRx Effectiveness by Pediatrics and Schools.”

Bickman presented “Improving Client OutcomesThrough Therapeutic Alliance” for Grand Roundsin the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia Uni-versity in New York last September, and he alsoorganized a two-day conference on mental healthreform at the University of Tromso in Norwaylast October. The conference could lead to majorchanges in child and adolescent mental-healthservices in Norway.

Bickman and David Lubinski, professor of psy-chology, rank in the top 5 percent in productiv-ity (for weighted publications) among developmental

As mothers and daughters go, Ann East-erling and Virginia Chapman are com-

plete opposites physically. Easterling, themother, is blonde and tan. Chapman,her daughter, is fair with dark hair. “Momis relaxed, and I’m high-strung,” says Chap-man, and Easterling agrees, laughing.

But that may be where the significantdifferences end. Both mother and daugh-ter are teachers, and both agree concern-ing their next career move: They are thefirst mother/daughter duo to enroll in thevisual disabilities program at Peabody.

Chapman, who teaches fifth grade atBurt Elementary School in Clarksville,Tenn., applied first to the program. “I hada little girl in my class last year who hadocular albinism”—an inherited conditionin which the inside of the eye lacks pig-mentation, causing failure of the retina todevelop fully—“and I worked with hervision teacher who was a graduate of thePeabody program,” she says. “This yearI have a boy in my class who has secondaryjuvenile glaucoma.”

Chapman’s undergraduate degree is inanimal science, and her teaching special-ization is in life sciences, so her interest inthe anatomical aspects of the eye has beenpiqued by these situations. The course-work she currently takes in the programprepares her for a new career, possibly asan itinerant vision teacher, but also allowsher new insight in her current job.

Easterling, who teaches physical edu-

cation at Cheatham Middle School inCheatham County, Tenn., has been edu-cating students for 22 years. Though she

only started the program this spring, shealready has found orientation and mobil-ity to be an area in which she takes par-ticular interest.

“I see this as something I can do afterI retire from full-time teaching in four orfive years,” says Easterling. “I could seemyself working with geriatric patients onorientation and mobility, especially sinceI teach physical education.” Easterling citesher former mother-in-law as someone whomay have unwittingly fostered her inter-est in this area of visual disabilities.

“She had arterial sclerosis, and in 1984she went totally blind,” Easterling explains.“One day she could see fine, and then sud-denly it was all gone. As far as her mobil-ity was concerned, she was pretty muchself-taught, but I don’t think I could havedone as well. After I got into this program,I thought this probably should be the wayI should go, to help older people, to letthem know they can still function.”

While she feels she may work with thoseon the older end of the age scale, the oppo-site is true for her daughter, who enjoysworking with young children. Chapman’spracticum allows her to work with childrenthrough Tennessee Infant-Parent Services.

“I’m working with a 21-month-old childright now who is one of only six childrenin the state to have a rare condition calledfamilial exuditive retinopathy,” says Chap-man. “We work on his fine motor skills,gross motor skills, and language develop-ment. He’s really just starting to comeout of his shell with me. I just heard himsay his first word a couple of weeks ago.”

—Bonnie Arant Ertelt

A Continuum of Care:Peabody Mother/Daughter Duo Takes On Visual Disabilities

Ann Easterling, left, and her daughter, Vir-ginia Chapman, are the first mother/daugh-ter duo to enroll in Peabody’s visualdisabilities program.

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Kenneth Wong

97 percent of first-year

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science scholars, according to a DevelopmentalReview article that evaluated doctoral programsin developmental sciences. They were among agroup of 40 individuals who had published anaverage of 33.67 articles, 2.3 books, and 8.98chapters over a seven-year period.

David A. Cole, professor of psychology, hasbeen awarded a $1.7 million research grant($331,957 per year for five years) by the Pub-lic Health Service for “Development Origins ofDepressive Cognitions.”

Judy Garber, professor of psychology and pro-fessor of psychiatry, has been awarded a $94,724research grant by the Public Health Service for“Sequential Treatment Alternatives to RelieveDepression (STAR*D) Child Study.”

Garber and Bahr Weiss, associate professor ofpsychology, are principal investigators for a three-year grant from the Fogarty International Centerof the National Institutes of Health to developa training program for Vietnamese investigatorsto conduct intervention research in childhoodmental disorders. The grant is one of 14 that willfund research and training projects focused oninternational non-communicable disease condi-tions through the Fogarty Center’s new Interna-tional Clinical, Operational, and Health ServicesResearch and Training Award (ICOHRTA). Gar-ber, Weiss, and other Vanderbilt faculty willcollaborate with Dr. Hoang Cam Tu at the NationalInstitute of Pediatrics in Vietnam.

Susan Hespos, assistant professor of psychology,presented her research on the development of lan-guage and spatial knowledge at a conference,“Categorization of Spatial Entities in Languageand Cognition,” in Toulouse, France, in January.This invitational conference was sponsored bythe French Ministry and is part of an interdisci-plinary initiative put forth by the French gov-ernment to promote new research collaborations.

Hespos has been awarded a $129,833 researchgrant by the McDonnell Foundation for “Opti-cal Imaging in Human Infants.”

Ellen E. Pinderhughes, research assistant pro-fessor of psychology, has been awarded a $1.15million research grant by the Public Health Ser-vice for “Multi-Site Prevention of AdolescentProblem Behavior.”

Georgine M. Pion, research associate professorof psychology and human development, has beenawarded a $25,893 research grant by the PublicHealth Service for “IPA-Survey Development,Oversight, and Analysis.”

Pion has been designated a National Associ-ate of the National Academy of Sciences. Thehonor, which is a lifetime appointment, recog-nizes exceptional contributions to the NationalAcademies through pro bono service.

John J. Rieser, professor of psychology, has beenawarded a $422,951 research grant by theNational Science Foundation for “Collabora-

the superintendent who blames the teach-ers’ union.

“This movement asks, ‘Why not stopthe buck at the mayor’s office and hold themayor accountable?’ It’s a radical changefor school systems.”

New IRIS Center SupportsSpecial-Needs Education

A new Peabody initiative hopes to improvethe education of children with disabilitiesin general education classrooms.

The IRIS (IDEA and Research for Inclu-sive Settings) Center for Faculty Enhance-ment was created last year through a $4.25million, five-year grant from the U.S. Depart-ment of Education’s Office of Special Edu-cation Programs. The Center supportscollege and university faculty who prepareK–12 general-education teachers, princi-pals, school counselors, and school nurses,and is the nation’s only faculty enhance-ment center established for this purpose.

“IRIS is a wonderful opportunity tomake a difference for students with dis-abilities in schools,” says Center DirectorDeborah D. Smith, research professor ofspecial education.

The Individuals with Disabilities Edu-

cation Act (IDEA) of 1997 provided newopportunities for students with disabili-

ties, including greater accessto general-education class-rooms. Explains Smith,“We’re including more spe-

cial-education students ingeneral-education pro-grams, but the individu-

als who work with themdon’t really know very much

about their educational needsbecause they haven’t been trainedto work with kids with disabili-ties and their families.”

Smith and her colleagues are workingwith a team of the nation’s leading special-education experts to create course-enhance-ment materials, including interactive teachingmodules and source materials for gen-eral-education faculty. The teaching mod-ules are Web-accessible learning units aboutkids with disabilities, and faculty can usethem for class discussion and problem-solv-ing activities or assign them as homework.

One of the IRIS Center’s first productsis a Web resource directory, a searchabledatabase that provides faculty with descrip-tions of and links to Web sites with infor-mation about special education.

Project 30 AllianceRelocates to Peabody

The Project 30 Alliance, a unique teacher-education reform initiative involving 29 col-leges and universities nationwide, has movedits headquarters from the University of Day-ton to the Peabody College campus.

As part of the move, the name of the orga-nization has been changed to the Arts and

Sciences/Teacher Edu-cation Collaborative:Project 30 Alliance.In addition, CharlesB. Myers, Peabodyprofessor of socialstudies education and assistant to thedean for teacher edu-cation, has beennamed national exec-utive director.

Project 30 is theonly national organization that brings togetherfaculty in colleges of arts and sciences andfaculty in colleges of education for the solepurpose of improving teacher education.The initiative provides a constructive intel-lectual agenda that encourages a penetrat-ing analysis of the function of the educationof prospective teachers at the college level.

This agenda focuses on five major themes:subject matter understanding; general andliberal education; pedagogical content knowl-edge; international, cultural, and other humanperspectives; and recruitment of underrep-resented groups into teaching.

The issues and problems embedded withinthese themes often are beyond the expertiseof either an arts and sciences faculty or aneducation faculty to solve alone. But, accord-ing to Project 30 goals, through joint con-sideration of these themes, faculties can workproductively toward effective and durablecurriculum redesign.

“The most important goal of the orga-nization, from my perspective, is better coop-eration between arts and sciences and teachereducators,” says Myers. “It’s a combinationof enhancing the role of arts and sciencesfaculty, and enhancing the place of contentin a teacher preparation program. Then whenyou get into things like diversity and theimportance of a broad liberal-arts educa-tion, those values are naturally imbeddedinto the whole thing.

“Having the organization housed here

on campus is an added benefit because itbecomes a mechanism for us to improve ourown ways of addressing the same goals asthe national group.”

The Project 30 Alliance was begun in1988 through financial support from theCarnegie Corp. and organizational supportfrom the American Association of Collegesfor Teacher Education (AACTE) and theCouncil of Colleges of Arts and Sciences(CCAS) deans. For more information, visitthe Project 30 Alliance’s Web site atwww.ASTECProject30.org, or e-mail yourcomments to astec@vanderbilt.edu.

Neuroscientist NamedDirector of Kennedy Center

Pat R. Levitt, formerly a professor and chairof neurobiology at the University of Pitts-burgh, has been named director of the JohnF. Kennedy Center for Research on HumanDevelopment. Stephen M. Camarata, asso-ciate professor ofhearing and speechsciences and asso-ciate professor ofspecial education,has served as interimdirector for nearlytwo years.

Levitt’s recentresearch has focusedon the interplay ofgenetics and envi-ronment, including the gestational and earlynurturing environment, in the developmentof the mammalian brain. At Pittsburgh hewas co-director of the university’s Centerfor Neuroscience.

“Vanderbilt is very fortunate to haverecruited a national leader in the field ofbrain development,” says Dr. Harry R. Jacob-son, vice chancellor for health affairs. “UnderPat Levitt’s direction, the Kennedy Center’salready stellar contributions to the study ofbehavioral and developmental disabilitieswill be further enhanced by a more com-prehensive biomedical approach.”

Levitt joins the Kennedy Center at a cru-cial time, as it transitions from an adminis-trative unit of Peabody College to auniversity-wide research center involvingPeabody, the School of Medicine, and theCollege of Arts and Science. This expansionenables the Center’s initiatives to includegenetic, pharmacological, and neurological

D E P A R T M E N T N O T E S

tive Research on the Perceptual Aspects of Loco-motion Interfaces.”

Jules Seeman, professor of psychology, emeri-tus, and lecturer of human development coun-seling, is associate editor of a newly publishedvolume of Humanistic Psychotherapies: Hand-book of Research and Practice. The handbookwas published by the American PsychologicalAssociation.

Tedra Ann Walden, professor of psychology, hasbeen awarded a $999,949 research grant by thePublic Health Service for “Collaborative Programon Homeless Families.” Leonard Bickman is co-principal investigator.

Lynn S. Walker, associate professor of psychol-ogy and professor of pediatrics, has been nameddirector of Vanderbilt’s Division of AdolescentMedicine and Behavioral Science.

Niels G. Waller, professor of psychology, pre-sented “The Path Analysis Controversy: A NewStatistical Approach to Strong Appraisal ofVerisimilitude” at the meeting of the AmericanPsychological Association last August. He dis-cussed various theories of causality and focusedon recent attempts to test causal conjectures withpath analysis.

Kenneth A. Wallston, professor of psychology,received the Career Service Award in Health Psy-chology from Division 38 of the American Psy-chological Association during its annual conventionin San Francisco last August. He has served astreasurer, historian, and president of Division38 and is editor of its newsletter, The HealthPsychologist.

Special EducationStephen M. Camarata, associate professor ofspecial education and associate professor ofhearing and speech sciences, has been awardeda $1.2 million research grant by the Public HealthService for “John F. Kennedy Center for Men-tal Retardation.”

Camarata was honored last October as Profes-sional of the Year by the Nashville Mayor’s Advi-sory Committee for People with Disabilities.He was recognized for his work on treatment andadvocacy for children with language delays orother developmental disabilities.

Donald L. Compton, assistant professor of spe-cial education, has been awarded a $180,000research grant by the U.S. Department of Edu-cation for “Linking Decoding Instruction, Decod-able Text, and Metacognitive Instruction to EffectStrong Reading Comprehension Outcomes forChildren with Disabilities.”

Anne L. Corn, professor of special education andprofessor of ophthalmology and visual sciences,has been awarded a $273,161 research grantby the State of Tennessee for “Providing Accessto the Visual Environment (PAVE).”

The Challenges of Quality Teaching

Charles B. Myers

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Vrginia Richardson, a leading nationalresearcher on practical ways to

enhance teacher education, shares herinsights on constructivist pedagogy asthe 17th annual Maycie K. Southall Lec-turer on Feb. 7. The constructivist ped-agogy approach focuses on teachers’knowledge and how they are able to con-vey that knowledge to accommodate fordifferences in individual children’s under-standings. “Ultimately, educationalresearch informs practice—policy, schooladministration, teaching, instruction,and parenting,” says Richardson, a devotededucator and researcher since 1961.“Above all, educational research speaksto student learning and student devel-opment in the important aspects of humanlife, including the cognitive, moral, phys-ical, emotional, artistic, and social.”Richardson is professor and chair of edu-cational studies at the University of Michi-gan’s School of Education, and she is a

past president of the American Educa-tional Research Association (AERA),which represents more than 23,000 edu-cators who conduct research and eval-uation in education.

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ters of the College. She continues to serve asan adjunct piano instructor at Belmont Uni-versity (Nashville).

“As a Peabody graduate and long-timeNashvillian, I admire and respect the Peabodyof the past, and like everyone else, I amexcited about today’s Vanderbilt and oppor-tunities for the University’s future,” saysGleason. “I see our work in the Dean’sOffice as integral to communications withinthe Peabody and University communities;good communications are key to our growthand will impact our future. I’m enjoyingthe quick pace and this extraordinary oppor-tunity to be associated with talented, moti-vated individuals.”

Cathy Hill came to Peabody from Mid-dle Tennessee State University (MTSU) whereshe continues to teach as an adjunct instruc-tor in business training and development.As Peabody’s recruitment manager, she isresponsible for graduate and professionalenrollment management, and for coordi-nating and managing endeavors to recruittop-notch students to the College.

Another native of Old Hickory, Tenn.,Hill earned her B.A. in communications fromBelmont University (Nashville), her master’sin business education from MTSU, andher education specialist degree from MTSU.She formerly worked 15 years in sales, mar-keting, and customer service for the airlineindustry and as a consultant in market research,training, and evaluation.

Hill says she enjoys interacting withprospective students and Peabody facultyand staff, and knowing the positive influ-ence the Peabody experience will have onthe future of its students. “By recruiting top

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facets of developmental disabilities research,and creates opportunities for increased inter-disciplinary research collaboration.

“The leadership of Van-derbilt has decided that theKennedy Center can act asa ‘seed’ for stimulating aninterdisciplinary environ-ment for investigators tocome together,” says Levitt.“It’s one of the first uni-versities to make such aneffort, bringing together insights from basicbiology to psychology to physiology thatcan be translated into new initiatives for peo-ple with developmental disabilities. I’m veryexcited about this opportunity.”

College Names NewAdministrative Staff

The Peabody College administration hasbeen bolstered by the appointments of fiveindividuals in key roles: Kurt Brobeck, direc-tor of communications for the College; KarenCunningham, senior financial analyst; HelenGleason, assistant in the dean’s office; CathyHill, recruitment manager; and William Par-tridge, acting associate dean for research.

Having spent 15 years in various com-munications posi-tions for Vanderbilt’sAlumni and Devel-opment Division(now InstitutionalPlanning and Ad-vancement), KurtBrobeck is wellsuited for the newlycreated position ofPeabody Collegedirector of commu-nications. In this role,the Washington, D.C.-area native is work-ing to strengthen both the external and inter-nal communications of the College throughits Web sites, informational brochures andnewsletters, materials for graduate and pro-fessional student recruitment, and in actingas liaison with Vanderbilt’s Public AffairsOffice, promoting Peabody’s interdiscipli-nary centers, and working with developmentstaff to secure additional financial resourcesfor the College.

Brobeck holds a B.A. from Centre Col-lege (Kentucky) and has done graduate workin nonfiction writing and editing at George

Mason University (Virginia) and theologi-cal study at Vanderbilt Divinity School.

“Peabody is a very complex place,” saysBrobeck. “One of thethings I hope to convey isa sense that all these strandscohere in a way thatempowers people and ben-efits their communities.Peabody has never had aperson dedicated to itscommunications functions,

so it’s very much a work in progress and areal creative opportunity.”

Karen Cunningham, who has worked atPeabody College since 1978, previouslywas administrative officer for Peabody’s Learn-ing Technology Center, which she servedfor 12 years. As senior financial analyst, sheis working to help develop the College’s oper-ational budget and contribute to financialplanning for the future. “So far, no two dayshave been the same,” she says.

A native of Old Hickory, Tenn., just out-side Nashville, Cunningham earned a B.S.degree in business education from TreveccaNazarene University (Nashville).

“I was here one year before Peabody’smerger with Vanderbilt and have seen a lotof changes in the last 24 years,” says Cun-ningham. “I would like to think what I domakes a contribution both to the missionof Peabody and to the lives of the individu-als that we touch. We should not be goingthrough life as a place holder, but rather asan active participant.”

Originally from Washington, D.C., HelenGleason is a Peabody alumna, having earnedthe master of music degree in 1967. Herbachelor’s degree in music was earned fromEast Carolina University. She served as apiano instructor for Northern VirginiaCommunity College and Columbia (Tenn.)State Community College, as well as anadministrator for the Tennessee Perform-ing Arts Center and Nashville SymphonyAssociation before joining the Vanderbiltstaff in 1995.

She was administrative assistant for theCenter for Clinical and Research Ethics atVanderbilt Medical Center prior to herappointment last summer as assistant in thedean’s office. In that role, she provides admin-istrative and business staff support whileserving as a representative of the dean regard-ing daily operations and special projectsrelated to academic and professional mat-

D E P A R T M E N T N O T E S

Corn has been appointed to the Tennessee Inter-agency Professional Educators’ Consortium, acommittee charged with reviewing and makingrecommendations on the recruitment, personnelpreparation, and retention of special educatorsin Tennessee.

Corn also was recipient of a 2001 VanderbiltAffirmative Action and Diversity Initiative Award,presented last October. The award specificallyrecognizes her work with Project PAVE, whichoffers services to people with visual impairmentsages 3 to 21.

Douglas Fuchs, professor of special education,has been awarded a $700,000 research grant bythe U.S. Department of Education for “Centerfor Research on Learning Disabilities.” DanielReschly, Lynn S. Fuchs, and Donald Comptonare co-principal investigators.

Ann P. Kaiser, professor of special education andprofessor of psychology, has been awarded tworecent research grants by the U.S. Department ofHealth and Human Services: $199,997 for “EarlyIdentification and Prevention of Conduct Disor-der in Head Start Children” and $75,000 for“Building Social Communication Skills DuringPeer Interaction.”

Craig H. Kennedy, associate professor of specialeducation, has been awarded a $46,573 researchgrant by the Tennessee Department of Educa-tion for “Evaluation of Inclusive Large ScaleStandards and Assessment (ILSSA) Group Eval-uation Project.”

Daniel Reschly, department chair, professor ofeducation, and professor of psychology, is senioreditor of a report, “Disability Determination forMental Retardation,” released in January by theNational Academy of Sciences Panel. He alsochaired the panel. Reschly was asked to testifyto the full President’s Commission on Excellencein Special Education in February in Houston.Invited to testify to the Commission in Marchwere Peabody faculty members Douglas Fuchs,Lynn Fuchs, and Mark Wolery.

Deborah D. Smith, research professor of spe-cial education and director of the Alliance Pro-ject, has been awarded a $188,969 research grantby the U.S. Department of Education for “ResearchTeam on the Supply and Demand of Special Edu-cators and Related Service Providers.”

Mark Wolery, professor of special education,has been awarded a $175,191 research grant bythe Public Health Service for “Accessing theChildcare Curriculum: Effective Instruction forChildren with Autism.” Ann N. Garfinkle is co-principal investigator.

Teaching and LearningPhilip S. Crooke III, professor of education andprofessor of mathematics, presented an invitedtalk titled “Mathematical Modeling of Patient-Ventilator Interactions” at the 31st Critical CareCongress session, held in San Diego in January.

students and increasing our admissions,Peabody is positively impacted in manyways,” she says. “This strengthens our com-mitment to the campus community, our cur-rent student body, and our alumni.”

William Partridge joined the Peabody fac-ulty in 2001 as professor of human and orga-nizational development and is now alsoserving as acting associate dean for research.He came to Peabody from the World Bankin Washington, D.C., where he was leadanthropologist for the Latin American andCaribbean Region, working in Mexico,Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia,Paraguay, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. Inaddition to facilitating and fostering grad-uate-student and faculty research at Peabody,he is charged with helping to launch the Col-lege’s new Learning Sciences Institute.

A Miami native, Partridge earned his B.A.in anthropology, M.A. in cultural anthro-pology, and Ph.D. in social anthropologyfrom the University of Florida in Gainesville.

“At Peabody I’m working with talentedand creative students and faculty on prob-lems that matter to our nation and the world,”says Partridge. “This work impacts the Col-lege by broadening and diversifying the schol-arly conversation about the significance ofcommunity and cultural organizations in theprocesses of learning.”

“Each of these individuals is making acritical difference in how the administrationof Peabody College functions and is perceivedacross campus and throughout the extendedVanderbilt community,” says Peabody DeanCamilla Benbow. “We are extremely fortu-nate to have their many talents workingtogether to further Peabody’s goals.”

D E P A R T M E N T N O T E S

Dale Farran, professor of education and profes-sor of psychology, has received a grant to fundher Transatlantic Consortium on Early Child-hood Intervention. The lead institution is the Uni-versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, withleadership provided by alumnus Rune Simeons-son, MA’67, EdS’68, PhD’71, who receivedPeabody’s 2001 Distinguished Alumnus Award.Peabody is one of three U.S. partners, and thereare five European partners. The project proposesto (1) expand and strengthen the policy, practice,and research base of human services for youngchildren with disabilities and their families; (2)contribute to the preparation of practitioners forleadership roles through cross-cultural training;(3) establish a mechanism for ongoing transat-lantic exchange of information and promotionof collaborative research; and (4) establish a basefor the development of further long-range col-laboration. The grant provides opportunities andfunding for graduate students.

John K. Folger, professor of education, emeri-tus, has been elected vice president of the boardof the Nashville-area Habitat for Humanity chap-ter. Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit organi-zation that builds affordable housing.

Charles K. Kinzer, associate professor of educa-tion, has been awarded a $381,780 research grantby the National Science Foundation for “BestPractices—Teacher Preparation—Technology:Connections That Enhance Children’s LiteracyAcquisition and Reading Achievement.”

Margaret W. Smithey, senior lecturer in educa-tion, presented two papers at the American Asso-ciation of Colleges for Teacher Education conferencein New York in February. Smithey, Professor ofEducation Carolyn Evertson, and Peabody DeanCamilla Benbow were co-authors of the paper“Providing System-Wide Mentoring for NewTeachers: A School District and University Part-nership”; Smithey and Evertson co-authored thesecond paper, “How Mentors Help New Teach-ers Improve Student Learning: Examples fromNew Teachers’ Classroom-Based Inquiry.”

Learning Technology CenterJohn D. Bransford, Center co-director, profes-sor of education, and Centennial Professor ofPsychology, has been named as one of five newmembers of the Carnegie Foundation for theAdvancement of Teaching’s board of trustees.Bransford has been working in educational psy-chology since 1970. He is co-author of severalbooks, including How People Learn: Brain,Mind, Experience, and School; The Ideal Prob-lem Solver: A Guide for Improving Thinking,Learning, and Creativity; and Human Cogni-tion. His work in cognition and technology wonhim the 2001 E.L. Thorndike Award for edu-cational psychology.

Bransford has been designated a National Asso-ciate of the National Research Council in honorof his exemplary service to the National Acad-emies. He also has been designated a National

Kurt Brobeck

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(Left to right)Karen Cunning-ham, HelenGleason,William Par-tridge, andCathy Hill

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Among Vanderbilt University’s 10

colleges and schools,

Peabody College is

the only one offer-

ing programs that

lead to undergraduate,

professional, and graduate degrees.

?Did youknow

14 P E A B O D Y

D E P A R T M E N T N O T E S

Associate of the National Academy of Sciences,a lifetime appointment.

Susan Gray School for ChildrenCarol Howard, Susan Gray School teacher, waspresented the Outstanding Service Award fol-lowing last October’s annual State of the KennedyCenter Address, given by then-acting directorStephen Camarata.

Ruth Ashworth Wolery, School director andassistant professor of the practice of specialeducation, has been awarded a $431,912 researchgrant by the Tennessee Department of Healthand Mental Retardation for “Susan Gray SchoolEarly Intervention Program.” She also has beenawarded a $98,000 grant by the TennesseeDepartment of Education for “Early ChildhoodEducation Program.”

StaffBetty Lee, Peabody College registrar, was hon-ored last October with a 2001 Commodore Award,which recognizes and rewards significant staffachievements in Vanderbilt’s pursuit of excellencein education, health care, research, and commu-nity service. Peabody’s registrar for 26 years, Leerecently helped the College in redesigning itsadministrative staff structure in order to meet theneeds of students and faculty more efficiently.Described by co-workers as the person “whoholds it all together,” she works magic on weep-ing students, demanding parents, and irate fac-ulty. In 1991 she won an Affirmative Action Awardfor her efforts assisting students with disabilitieson the Peabody campus.

Elliott C. Mitchell, director of educational mediaservices, was elected last October as chair ofNashville’s Public, Educational, and Govern-mental Access Oversight Committee, which hasbeen working to establish stakeholder controlover the city’s educational access TV channels.He also has been invited to join the EducationCouncil at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts,and he has been appointed co-chair of the “Cre-ating Critical Viewers” education project for theNashville/Midsouth Chapter of the NationalAcademy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Jan Rosemergy, director of communications andcommunity relations for Vanderbilt’s John F.Kennedy Center and an editorial adviser for THE

PEABODY REFLECTOR, has been appointed to thenewly created State Developmental DisabilitiesPlanning and Policy Council by Elisabeth Rukeyser,commissioner of the Tennessee Department ofMental Health and Developmental Disabilities.The council will advise the department on athree-year plan, policy, budget requests, anddeveloping and evaluating service systems forpeople with mental retardation and develop-mental disabilities.

The last issue of THE PEABODY REFLECTOR featured Peabody College alumni whoare serving, or have served, as college and university presidents (“Movers,Shakers, and Policymakers,” pages 22–29). Despite our best research efforts toprovide a complete and accurate list of current alumni in these positions, we inad-vertently omitted three: David “Nick” Dunagan, EdD’90, chancellor of the Uni-versity of Tennessee at Martin; David C. Joyce, EdD’95, president of Union Collegein Barbourville, Ky.; and John E. Neal, EdD’90, president of Ottawa Universityin Ottawa, Kan. The REFLECTOR apologizes for the error and is proud toinclude these three gentlemen among its distinguished alumni.

Correction

The 2001–2002 schoolyear opened Aug. 29

with a campus visit byU.S. Secretary of Educa-tion Rod Paige, whotalked with Peabody stu-dents to hear their first-hand impressions of theCollege’s renownedteacher-education pro-grams. Paige touted Pres-ident Bush’s educationinitiative, declaring thatits “no child left behind”goal is tough and aggres-sive. Achieving that goal, he said, dependson education-research support and mak-ing sure the research reaches the class-room. “We will rely on good, crisp thinking… the informed thought that goes on at places like Peabody,” said Paige.

Paige’s visit to Vanderbilt was partof his 10-city “Back to School, MovingForward” tour to outline details of Pres-ident Bush’s education agenda. In theabove photo, he joins in a panel dis-cussion involving several members ofthe Peabody community, including 2000alumna Rasheedat Fetuga, a fourth-grade teacher with Metro NashvillePublic Schools.

The Bush Administration has takenquite an interest in Peabody during thepast year. In February, Assistant U.S.Secretary of Education Bob Pasternackwas on campus to participate in a con-ference sponsored by the Alliance Pro-ject, a national initiative headquarteredat Peabody that addresses the increas-ing demand for and the declining sup-ply of personnel from historicallyunderrepresented ethnic groups in spe-cial education. In the photo at left, Paster-nack addresses the conference crowd.

Secretaries of Education Visit Peabody

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O ne of Peabody’s far-reaching success stories began as a

small research project for Professor of Education Carolyn

Evertson. “I figured I’d have a year’s worth of work to do, and

then nobody would be interested,” she says of the Classroom

Organization and Management Program (COMP) that she

began to formulate when she was at the University of Texas a

decade and a half ago. “Instead, we have just grown and grown

and grown.”

Have they ever. COMP has been validated by the U.S.

Department of Education as “a program that works” and has

now trained 60,000 educators across the country over the

past 12 years. COMP, in fact, was the outgrowth of classroom

COMMONSENSECOMMONPRACTICE

COMMONSENSECOMMONPRACTICE

COMP IS TRAINING TEACHERS

NATIONWIDE TO TAKE CONTROL

OF THEIR CLASSROOMS

by Shelton Clark

into

Carolyn Evertson,Peabody professor of

education, formulatedthe Classroom Organi-

zation and ManagementProgram (COMP),which has trained60,000 educators

nationwide to meet thechallenge of managing

their classrooms.

PEYTON HOGE

16 P E A B O D Y R E F L E C T O R 17

research Evertson was working on at Texas. “It becamevery apparent to us that the habits teachers developed inthe beginning of their careers mattered in terms of howsmoothly their classrooms worked and how well theirkids achieved,” she says.

“Because we were regularly in classrooms in October,we were really seeing the results of things teachers did ordidn’t do when they began the school year. What I decid-ed to do was observe in classrooms on the first day ofschool to see how teachers orchestrated them from thebeginning and how that played out across the year. This ishow COMP began.

“When I went around the country giving talks aboutthis work”—she emphasizes “work” as though it were notobvious enough to her audience—“I would frequently getthe comment, ‘Well, isn’t this common sense?’ My responsewas, ‘Yes, indeed—but it’s not common practice.’”

In a typical workshop, teachers focus on developing asystem in their classrooms that supports learning, such asorganizing the physical space, planning and teaching pro-cedures, making expectations visible, monitoring students’academic work, and improving students’ personal andacademic accountability, as well as managing studentbehavior.

OUTREACH TO THEEDUCATION COMMUNITYOnce teachers have completed a workshop, they have theopportunity to become workshop leaders who then maytake the program’s instruction to their entire school dis-tricts. In this way, COMP’s research-based principlesinfluence schools nationwide.

Peabody Dean Camilla Benbow sings Evertson’s andCOMP’s praises. “The program is the brainchild of CarolynEvertson. She got the grants originally, and then she hiredDr. Alene Harris and the staff who worked with her. Theyhave all contributed and helped define what it is today.”

As such, the program helps further Peabody’s contribu-tion to the nation’s education community. “Peabody’s mis-sion has always been to be engaged in the community, tohelp better education as it is situated in society,” contin-ues Benbow. “Therefore, it’s part of the outreach missionPeabody has had for a long time. Our commitment is tobring knowledge to the people.”

“But it’s not a cookie-cutter program,” warns JulieGreenberg, COMP’s program coordinator. “It’s very flexi-ble. I was a classroom teacher for many years, and Iwould like to have had something like this.”

“As new teachers come into the profession, or as teach-ers switch the kinds of classrooms they are teaching, all ofthese management issues suddenly surface,” says Evertson.“New teachers who have very little classroom experienceare like sponges. They soak up what they find in the work-shops. They may have had a classroom managementcourse in college, but they often don’t remember well whatwas taught. Now they have a real need to know.”

Steve Cox, dean of students at Beech Grove, Ind., HighSchool, concurs. “Teachers coming out of college oftendon’t have much training in classroom management,” he

says. “So even though they’re ready to tackle their contentareas, I think it scares them to death to think about kidsin the classroom and how they’re going to deal with con-frontations while also preventing them. COMP is allabout being proactive rather than reactive in the educa-tional process.” Cox also is the Safe Schools coordinatorand works with staff development within his district.

SHARING WHAT WORKSAND WHAT DOESN’T

Not surprisingly, the workshops are equally rewarding forveteran teachers, who are not as resistant to change asone may believe. “Once the teachers in the audienceunderstand that this is about revisiting the things they doin their own classrooms and sharing with others, we’vegot ’em. We’ve got ’em.”

For those teachers, validation is a major benefit ofCOMP. Don Washburn, director of the Pilasco-RossSpecial Education Resource Center in Ohio, speaks of“the reaffirmation that some of the things we’ve beendoing were right all along.

“Teachers indicate in COMP evaluations that they feelmore capable of meeting challenges in the classroom thanthey did before,” he adds. “In the past, there was a feelingthat every classroom is its own kingdom. I think this iscertainly changing with the national standards and reau-thorization of the Elementary-Secondary Education Act.All of a sudden, research is recognizing the importance ofschoolwide discipline plans and their impact. Hopefully,we’re moving away from isolationism.”

“A lot of times in education,” adds Beech Grove’sCox, “educators don’t have the time during the day to sitdown and talk to one another about what they’re doingand what works for them. In the workshop setting, thoseteachers are allowed to do just that, and they share ideasand go back and put them in their classroom managementplan.

“One of the major things that makes COMP so effec-tive and applicable is the fact that it’s based on informa-tion and research from teachers—so master teachers aresharing their ideas with other master teachers. Whenteachers look at all the modules of COMP, they basicallyhave a format to plan ahead. It gives them a plan ofaction before they head into the school year.”

The sharing of information helps not only the work-shop participants, but the workshop leaders as well, saysFelisa VanLiew, vice principal of Martin Luther King Jr.Educational Complex in Paterson, N.J. “When workshopparticipants fill out their evaluation forms, they say theylike the idea that they were able to share with other peo-ple who had like concerns. That’s what makes my job asfacilitator so easy.

“In the workshop, when someone asks a question, I’llsay, ‘Well, let’s see what everyone else has to offer you,’and I just step back. All I’m doing is facilitating. It’s inter-esting all the things I have learned just by listening to theparticipants share. I love it. And that’s exactly what theseteachers say they love: the sharing. They get a chance toproblem-solve, to talk about their own issues, and toknow that somebody else has the same issues and canoffer them help.”

GOOD, SOLID RESEARCHVanLiew, New Jersey’s only certified COMP workshopleader, has sold the idea of COMP to three different staffdevelopment supervisors over the past decade. “I thinkmore people in New Jersey need to be exposed to COMP.Mine is an urban district, and my teachers say in theirevaluations, ‘I didn’t have this in college,’ or ‘Why didn’t Ihave this in the summer so I could have started it fresh inSeptember?’

“Our state colleges are missing out on informationthat needs to be put in their hands. I have not had achance to get to some of my colleagues on the collegelevel. I need to sell them, to say we need to look at theseissues differently, because I’ve got teachers that lack theinformation shared in COMP.”

Sharon Anthony is executive principal of Antioch HighSchool, one of Nashville’s largest high schools and onethat serves a multitude of immigrant populations. She wasone of COMP’s first participants, and is one of Nashville’sleading advocates for the program.

“COMP is based on outstanding research to beginwith,” she says. “It helps us, as it would help any teacheror group of teachers, to address the needs of students inthe most efficient and effective manner. When you havemore diverse needs, you need more skills. But these areskills that would be effective no matter where you arebecause it’s based on good, solid research and effectiveteaching practices. It doesn’t matter whether you’re anadvanced-placement teacher or whether you are teachingstudents who are struggling. It’s just good, solid profes-sionalism.

“Those of us who took the workshops after we hadbeen teaching awhile reacted with, Why didn’t somebodytell me this when I first started teaching? And for thosewho are new to the profession, it’s just like trying to get a

sip of water out of a fire hydrant. You can study andstudy, but until those young people walk in the door,sometimes you don’t understand what it all means.COMP sets everybody up to be successful. It gives us acommon language as a faculty and as principals who aretrying to coach people to be more and more successful.

“The other thing I appreciate so much is that, in everyworkshop I have ever attended involving anyone who’s

ever been influenced by the program, the workshopsthemselves are models of how teaching should be, or howone’s classroom should be: a variety of activities, cleardirections, materials that are distributed effectively. Thepresentations are models of effective teaching. They reallywalk their talk, and they know what they’re talkingabout. It’s not philosophical. It’s real.”

“What we are really about is creating conditions forlearning, helping teachers find ways to develop positivelearning environments in their classrooms,” affirmsCarolyn Evertson. “With the advent of computers in theclassroom, we also are incorporating management of tech-nology.”

Evertson, who plans to oversee the training of another10,000 teachers this year, still benefits from the programshe helped craft for others. “I learn something about myown college teaching every time I go through a work-shop,” she says. “It’s only taken me 18 years.”

To learn more about COMP and how it may benefit yourown classroom or school district, contact Julie Greenberg,program coordinator, by calling 615/322-8050 or e-mailingjulie.greenberg@vanderbilt.edu. Or visit the COMP Website at www.comp.org or at http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/depts/tandl/exreview/research/Comp/.

Shelton Clark is a Nashville freelance writer.

Sharon Anthony is executive principal of Antioch High School,one of Nashville’s largest, and is a leading advocate for COMP.“COMP sets everybody up to be successful,” she says. “It givesus a common language as a faculty and as principals who aretrying to coach people to be more successful.”

“In COMP work-shops, teachers geta chance to prob-lem-solve, to talkabout their ownissues, and to knowthat somebody elsehas the sameissues,” says FelisaVanLiew, a certifiedCOMP workshopleader and the viceprincipal of MartinLuther King Jr.Educational Com-plex in Paterson,N.J.

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A merican military bases are, in many ways, self-con-tained cities. They have their own housing communi-

ties, their own grocery stores, their own hospitals—and theirown schools. On bases all around the world, children ofAmerican service men and women—from the lowest-levelenlisted to the top officers—are being educated by a schoolsystem that is producing impressive results.

The average academic achievement of all students and,even more significant, of African American and Hispanic stu-dents, enrolled in Department of Defense (DoD) schools isamong the highest in the nation on the National Assessmentof Educational Progress. The performance of minority stu-dents in DoD schools in eighth-grade reading and writing in1998 ranked at the top, either first or second in the nation, ascompared to the results of their counterparts in state systems.(See Table 1.)

This outstanding result caught the attention of nationalmedia, including the Wall Street Journal, and the NationalEducation Goals Panel. The Goals Panel therefore commis-sioned the first external research study to explore the excep-tionally high achievement of minority students in DoDschools. This article shares the results of that study.

AA CC oo mm pp ll ii cc aa tt ee dd EE qq uu aa tt ii oo nnThe debate among scholars continues regarding the degree towhich an array of economic, social, cultural, psychological,and institutional factors influences student achievement. Mostagree that differences in students’ performance on standard-ized tests are related to a set of school conditions and familycharacteristics.

These issues and concerns create a complicated achieve-ment equation. Many critical questions persist regarding howand why school environments (such as academic rigor, aca-demic grouping, teacher quality, and teacher expectations) and

family environments (such as family income, level and qualityof parental education, occupational status, family size andstructure, parents’ perceived self-efficacy, and parenting style)differentially impact student achievement. We agree that thisissue is complex, controversial, and unresolved.

This research study was conducted by researchers at thePeabody Center for Education Policy, led by James Guthrie,professor of public policy and education, and was designed toprovide a descriptive analysis of one school system—theDepartment of Defense schools—that has demonstrated highminority student achievement and high achievement overall, asmeasured by the 1998 National Assessment of EducationalProgress (NAEP).

This is not a comprehensive study, nor do we make anyclaims of causality about the effects of school environmentand family characteristics on student achievement. The studyfocuses upon a set of system-wide governance structures,

R E F L E C T O R 19

MARCHFORWARD FORW

TT AA BB LL EE 11Ranking of DoD Minority Students on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), as Compared to All U.S. States

Reading 1998 Writing 1998NAEP Rank NAEP Rank

DoDDS1 African American 1st 2ndDoDDS Hispanic 2nd 1stDDESS2 African American 2nd 1stDDESS Hispanic 1st 1st

1 Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) are located overseas.2 Department of Defense Domestic Dependents Elementary and SecondarySchools (DDESS) are located in the U.S.

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America’s schools can take a lesson from the U.S. Defense Department

by Claire E. Smrekar and Debra E. Owens

school conditions, instructional policies, teacher characteris-tics, and administrative practices that are related to a school’scapacity to produce student learning. We also explore schoolclimate to examine whether or not DoD schools reflect theproperties of “communally organized” schools that recentresearch suggests produce higher achievement.

GG aa tt hh ee rr ii nn gg tt hh ee DD aa tt aaThe U.S. military established elementary, middle, and highschools for the children of service men and women overseasand in the U.S. shortly after World War II. The schools wereorganized into two distinct but similar systems: theDepartment of Defense Schools (DoDDS) overseas, and theDepartment of Defense Domestic Dependent Elementary andSecondary Schools (DDESS) in the U.S. (Nearly all the DDESSschools are located in the Southeast.)

The school systems united under the umbrella Departmentof Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) in 1994. (For the pur-poses of this article, however, we will refer simply to theDoD.) Military personnel must live on base in order to enrolltheir dependents in the DDESS system.

Today the DoD enrolls approximately 112,000 students inschools worldwide, or about the same number of students inthe Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., school district, or in thestate of North Dakota. (See Table 2.) The percentage ofminority students enrolled in DoD schools compares with thestate of New York, which averages 40 percent.

Another approximately 600,000 school-age children ofactive U.S. military personnel attend school in one of the morethan 600 civilian public school districts located near militaryinstallations in the continental U.S.

We visited a total of 15 middle schools located in ten dif-ferent school districts across the United States, Germany, andJapan (five domestic districts and five overseas districts). Theschools in our study reflect the average minority studentenrollment for the DoDDS and DDESS systems, althoughsome schools in the study reflect a higher-than-average minori-ty enrollment.

We deliberately selected schools that vary somewhat insize, mobility rates, installation deployment and training pat-terns, pay and rank composition of parents, and in the per-centage of students who are eligible for free and reducedlunches. This selection decision produced a group of schoolsthat reflects the depth, range, and diversity of DoDDS andDDESS schools.

Approximately 130 interviews were conducted during thefour-month data-collection period. We conducted in-depthinterviews with the principal and language arts teachers ateach school. At each district, military commanders andliaisons, curriculum specialists, assistant superintendents, andthe superintendent were interviewed.

Our interest focused upon issues of financial supports,resource allocation, personnel recruitment and selection,teacher quality, accountability, leadership styles, programdiversity, and academic policy priorities. Military officialswere asked specifically about housing patterns, health-carefacilities, educational backgrounds of military sponsors(school parents), safety concerns, social services, and militaryoperation demands (deployment and training). Parent leaders,assistant principals, school counselors, and teacher union rep-resentatives were interviewed at several of the schools.

In addition to interviews, we collected an array of school

and district documents, including curriculum guides andbenchmark standards, staff development plans, accountabilityreports, student/family demographic data, school handbooks,and parent newsletters. At each military installation, we col-lected information on housing, health services, recreation serv-ices, and social services on the base. An extensive school andbase tour, and multiple classroom observations (e.g., languagearts classes, computer classes, and industrial drawing) were anessential part of each full-day site visit.

Our report describes the education programs and policiesin Department of Defense schools that may help account forhigh minority achievement, including:

• The organizational and governmental structures thatlink the day-to-day operations of DoD schools and school districts to policy-setting authorities;

• The nature and quality of instructional practices in DoD domestic and overseas schools; and

• The social and economic conditions associated with students and their families in DoD domestic and overseas schools.

WW hh aa tt AA cc cc oo uu nn tt ss ff oo rr TT hh ii ss HH ii gg hh AA cc hh ii ee vv ee mm ee nn tt ??“Your study is looking at why minority students do better,”said a DoD teacher. “I think the answer to that question isthat all our students do better. There are no ‘minority’ stu-dents here.”

Some observers contend that the high achievement in DoDschools, particularly among minority students, is a function ofthe middle-class family and community characteristics of suchstudents. We believe such a view is overly simplified.

Approximately 80 percent of all DoD students have a DoDparent/military sponsor who is enlisted (non-officer). Mostenlisted personnel have only a high school diploma and incomelevels at or near the poverty line. Many enlisted personnel andtheir families do not live in comfortable housing. We argue thatDoD schools simultaneously “do the right things” and “dothings right.” This statement applies both to what happens inschools and in the DoD out-of-school environment that rein-forces, rather than dilutes, academic learning.

These are the characteristics of DoD schools we have iden-tified as contributing to its students’ high achievement:

A Strong Sense of Community. A strong sense of schoolcommunity is forged in the base neighborhoods that join mili-tary families in a cohesive network of discipline, routine,accountability, and commitment. Military and school staffreferred often to the “village” culture of support associatedwith military-base life, in which families closely linked by

R E F L E C T O R 21

membership and motivation to“move up in the ranks” develop asense of shared responsibility forchildren’s safety and well being.

“This is like ‘Leave It to Beaver’land,” one Marine commandernoted. “It’s cloistered and it’s pro-tected, but it is a shared responsibil-ity.” A culture of support in militaryneighborhoods permeates schoollife. Positive outcomes for studentsstem from a clear sense of sharedvalues among families and teachers.

Small Schools. A larger propor-tion of middle schools and high schools in the DoD systemhave small enrollments compared to most other state systems.This fact stands in stark contrast to many urban school dis-tricts in the U.S.—the environments in which most minoritystudents attend school. In the DoD system, small school sizecontributes to greater familiarity and personal knowledge ofstudents, their instructional needs and strengths, and theirunique family situations.

Military Commitment to Education and Accountability.One of the most significant factors leading to the educationalsuccess of DoD students is the value placed upon educationand training that permeates the military community, providingthe foundation for parental support and reinforcement in waysthat benefit children and promote student achievement. Theculture of order, discipline, education, and training in the mili-tary community creates ideal conditions for schools focusedupon these principles and expectations.

Centralized Direction-Setting Balanced with Local DecisionMaking. DoD’s management strategy merges effective leader-ship at topmost levels (e.g., establishing system-wide curricu-lum standards) with school- and district-level discretion indetermining day-to-day operations such as instructional prac-tices and personnel decisions.

DoD centrally establishes clear directions, goals, and tar-gets without dictating methods for achieving results. This mixof top-down and bottom-up decision making creates localcapacity and professional confidence. It also serves as a basisfor clear accountability. Principals and teachers know whatthey are expected to accomplish and are held responsible forachieving those goals.

Policy Coherence, Structural Alignment, and Efficient Flowof Data. DoD schools reflect a strong and consistent align-ment of curricular goals, instructional strategies, teacher sup-ports, and performance assessment results. This is particularlyevident in the area of writing, a subject identified by DoD as acurricular priority and educational concern more than 20years ago.

DoD assessment systems are embedded within a coherent

policy structure that links instructional goals with accountabil-ity systems supported by professional training and develop-ment programs. In DoD schools, student outcomes are specifi-cally tied to downstream performance goals. Staff training andcurricular intervention are coordinated with a school’s individ-ual improvement plan.

Sufficient Financial Resources. DoD provides a high level ofsupport in terms of district and school staffing, instructionalmaterials, facilities, and technology. The level of support forteachers is generous and well recognized throughout the system.

These resources enhance local capacity and strengthen thelocal districts’ and individual schools’ ability to implementschool improvement goals. Sufficient resources enable districtsto offer competitive salaries that attract and retain high-quali-ty teachers.

Staff Development. DoD professional development islinked to an individual school’s pattern of student perform-ance. It is tailored teacher by teacher, carefully structured toenhance a teacher’s identified deficiencies, and is sustainedover time.

Academic Focus and High Expectations for All. DoDschools emphasize individual student achievement. Highexpectations are the norm in DoD schools. These high expec-tations are manifested in the use of elevated standards, teach-ers’ sense of personal accountability, and a proactive approachto educating a highly transient student population.

DoD schools do not generally group students by academicability (i.e., tracking). Educational programs are provided thattarget lower-achieving students for in-school tutoring andhomework assistance after school.

Continuity of Care for Children. DoD schools are linked toan array of nationally recognized preschool programs andafter-school youth service centers. This “continuity of care”commitment is evidenced by the high level of investment inthese top-ranked programs in terms of staffing, educationalprogramming, and facilities. Consequently, the DoD programsare widely recognized as a national model among child-careproviders in the United States. They meet all standards estab-

20 P E A B O D Y

TT AA BB LL EE 22Number of Districts, Schools, Teachers, and Students in the DoDEA* System (2000–2001)

DoDDS DDESS Total

Districts 12 12 24Schools 157 70 227Teachers 5,747 3,675 9,422Students 77,912 34,294 112,206

*The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) is the umbrelladepartment that includes both the DoDDS and DDESS school systems.

Cody Whited, left, Marquan Price,and Melissa Hancock learn to read

thermometers at Stowers ElementarySchool at Fort Benning, Ga. Stowersis one of 227 K–12 schools operatedby the U.S. Department of Defense

on military bases around the world.

MICHAEL SCHWARZ

22 P E A B O D Y

lished by the National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (NAEYC), the National Association of Family ChildCare (NAFCC), and the National School-Age CareAssociation (NSACA).

“Corporate” Commitment to Public Education. DoDschools reflect an elevated “corporate” commitment from theU.S. military that is both material and symbolic. This commit-ment includes an expectation of parent involvement in school-and home-based activities. For example, soldiers are instructedthat their “place of duty” is at their child’s school on parent-teacher conference day, and they are relieved of work respon-sibilities to volunteer at school each month.

This commitment to promoting a parental role in educa-tion far surpasses the level of investment or involvementembraced by mentoring or tutoring models found in mostbusiness-education partnerships.

TT hh ee NN ee xx tt SS tt ee pp ss ff oo rr AA mm ee rr ii cc aa ’’ ss SS cc hh oo oo ll ssBased on the findings of our research on DoD schools, wehave presented to the National Education Goals Panel severalsignificant national policy recommendations we believe wouldinfluence student achievement, particularly among minoritystudents, in civilian public-school settings nationwide.

Small Schools. Research evidence and successful practicecontinually reinforce the utility of small schools, particularly inconstructing effective education for low-income, minority stu-dents. A “small school” is defined as an elementary schoolwith fewer than 350 students, a middle school with fewer than600, and a high school with an enrollment of 900 or fewer.

Creating smaller “learning communities” or schools-with-in-schools may very well facilitate the organizational andsocial conditions evidenced in DoD schools, and could lead toenduring educational benefits for minority students in civilianschools.

Centralized Direction-Setting Balanced with LocalDecision Making. Our findings suggest that state and localpolicymakers should use a management structure that func-tions as a “headquarters” for creating a blueprint for expectedstudent learning and academic performance.

As already observed, the DoD management strategy mergeseffective leadership at topmost levels with school- and district-level discretion in determining day-to-day operations. Cleardirections, goals, and targets are established without dictatingmethods for achieving results. A similar state-level priority-set-ting strategy can serve as a springboard to propel higher aca-demic achievement.

Policy Coherence, Structural Alignment, and Efficient Flowof Data. DoD assessment systems are embedded within acoherent policy structure that links instructional goals withaccountability systems supported by professional training anddevelopment programs. State and local policymakers canbegin by adopting a performance-oriented informationexchange that is systematic, clear, and comprehensive.

States should provide every school and each district withdetailed student performance assessment results. Using DoD asa model, each school should engage in a school improvementprocess to analyze student improvement needs and select stu-dent improvement goals. The ability and disposition to noticeand act on instructional problems, and to deploy resources tosolve problems, are critical elements of school improvement.

Sufficient Financial Resources. Money matters, particularly

when financial support is linked to specific, coordinated, andinstructionally relevant strategic goals. State and local publiceducation officials must acknowledge the crucial importanceof sufficient resources.

Staff Development. Professional development activitiesshould be job-embedded, consistent with an individualschool’s improvement goals, based upon student needs andteacher interests, and modeled, repeated, and practiced over along period of time. Professional training should include regu-lar monitoring by peers or supervisors, sustained support, andregular feedback.

Continuity of Care for Children. State and local policy-makers should utilize the DoD preschool and after-school pro-grams (e.g., youth service centers) as models that reflect thehighest-quality standards in the world. Many of these earlyand “out-of-school” educational activities contribute toenhanced student learning, self-esteem, and achievement.

“Corporate” Commitment to Public Education. Looking tothe DoD model, states and communities can gain similar levelsof corporate commitment for public-school students by mak-ing more visible those facets of the workplace that limit anemployee’s ability to participate in school-based activities (par-ticularly the ability of hourly workers).

Schools tend to structure school-based activities for tradi-tional, stay-at-home mothers. At the same time, a large num-ber of households include parents who are employed in full-time occupations that provide little flexibility and opportunityfor parents to leave work during school hours.

As schools begin to rethink the purpose and organizationof their parent involvement activities, employers should re-evaluate workplace policies that hinder the kind of parentalcommitment to educational excellence that organized businessgroups are demanding in the current debate on the quality ofour nation’s schools.

For more information about this research study, visit thePeabody Center for Education Policy’s Web site athttp://dlo.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/PCEP/.

Claire E. Smrekar, left, is associate professor of educationalleadership and policy at Peabody College of VanderbiltUniversity. Her research focuses upon the social context ofeducation and public policy. Debra E. Owens is a formerassistant superintendent of schools with more than 20 years ofexperience in public education and administration. She cur-rently is a Ph.D. candidate in education policy at Peabody and

a research assistant at the PeabodyCenter for Education Policy. Alsocontributing to this report wereJames W. Guthrie, professor ofpublic policy and education, chairof Peabody’s Department ofLeadership and Organizations,and director of the PeabodyCenter for Education Policy, andPearl Sims, director of Peabody’sCenter for Leadership Initiativesand an Ed.D. candidate in schooladministration.

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From education to big business, graduates of the 20-year-old human and organizational

development program are finding success in careers where they’re making a difference

by Julia Helgason

A P A R E N T ’ S P R I M E R :

THE HOD PHENOMENON

24 P E A B O D Y R E F L E C T O R 25

Break out the party hats, and bring on thebubbly. Peabody’s human and organi-

zational development (HOD) program turns 20 thisyear, and there’s plenty to celebrate. HOD, enrollingmore than 700 students, is hands-down the mostpopular, most sought-after undergraduate major onthe Vanderbilt University campus. And here’s thefrosting on the birthday cake: At a time when thebottom line is a top priority, HOD is also Peabody’sgreatest income generator.

But HOD is unique in the academic world and,consequently, is one of the most misunderstood pro-grams at Vanderbilt, particularly by parents whoscratch their heads and say, “It sounds great, butwhat do you do with it?”

Actually, what HOD alumni are doing with theirdegrees illustrates one of the greatest success storiesin the history of Peabody College. Some HOD grad-uates are educators, and some are corporate execu-tives. Some work in the arts, and some have pursuedmedicine and the sciences. Some are in high-techfirms while others serve nonprofit community-service agencies.

HOD gradu-ates find them-selves in a dizzyingvariety of careers,although a com-mon thread oftraining in organi-zational develop-ment and man-agement unitesthem—which isprecisely one ofthe program’sgreatest strengths.

HOD was thebrainchild of Asso-ciate Professor ofPsychology (andhero-in-residence)Robert B. Innes,who is director ofHOD’s undergrad-uate program. Hejoined Peabody’sfaculty in 1971with a doctorate ineducation and psy-chology from theUniversity ofMichigan, and he weathered Peabody’s merger withVanderbilt in 1979. Within months of the merger,there were rumblings of shortfalls and deficits and afinancially unhealthy proportion of graduate stu-dents to undergrads.

Before long, Peabody was flailing in a sea of redink, and the accountants decreed that more under-

graduates must be enrolled at Peabody to ensure itssurvival. Peabody Dean Bill Hawley asked Innes tochair a committee to develop a program in humandevelopment (the program’s original name), and hetook action.

Innes recognized that if Peabody went down, theundertow would likely take him, too. “I liked myjob,” he says. “I wanted to stay here.” Innes and hiscommittee began searching for a legitimate way tolure high school seniors. As he juggled various alter-natives, he hit upon an idea for a cutting-edge aca-demic major designed to be sufficiently flexibleenough to provide its graduates with the skillsemployers want, while also allowing flexibility forindividual tailoring.

The result was HOD. The program anticipatednine students the first year. Twenty enrolled. Primar-ily through word-of-mouth advertising, that numberhas swelled to 700-plus.

So what, precisely, is HOD and how does it con-tinue to draw students like a magnet draws pins?

HOD is a complex program that defies short andsimple explanation, but finding solutions to com-mon human problems is at the heart of it. Thoughpsychology plays a big role, HOD paints with amuch broader brush than a standard undergraduatepsychology major. HOD’s organizational develop-ment component resembles an undergraduate busi-ness major with a twist: a purposeful focus on socialresponsibility and community service, long a hall-mark of the Peabody tradition.

Whatever HOD is, “It is not a cocoon,” saysdepartment chair Joe Cunningham. While mostmajors keep freshmen and sophomores cooped up inclassrooms, HOD gets them up, out, and doing—providing real-world applications for conceptslearned in class. “There’s nothing like it anywherethat I know of,” says Innes. “There may be pro-grams with similar features, but none that starts students in the freshman year.”

The curriculum covers basic science and liberalarts with a heavy emphasis on communication skills,both written and oral. Within the discipline, threeareas of concentration provide focus for the juniorand senior years: Community Development andSocial Policy, Health and Human Services, andLeadership and Organizational Effectiveness. Thecapstone is a semester-long senior internship.

HOD is structured to appeal to students. Theylike the idea of jumping into the thick of things earlyon. They like the hands-on, off-campus experiences.They appreciate the broad scope of electives thatallow dabbling in various academic areas longenough to learn their own interests, likes, and dis-likes. They use the self-knowledge gained to rein-force preconceived ambitions or to changedirections. And they eagerly anticipate the seniorinternship that supplies fodder for résumés beforegraduation.

Never static, HOD evolves to meet changingtimes and challenges. It became a separate depart-

ment in 1999, headed by longtime Peabody adminis-trator Joe Cunningham, and eventually spawnedmaster’s and doctoral programs.

HOD’s community service component is notoptional. Each underclassman must invest a semes-ter working with a nonprofit agency. The experienceilluminates such societal problems as poverty, men-tal illness, and addiction. It starts students thinkingabout daily crises faced daily by the poor, the home-less, the disabled, and the chronically ill. As theybegin to understand, they begin to empathize.

The father of HOD’s community-service aspect isconsidered to be basketball-coaching legend EdMartin, who retired from the program in 2001 anddied Feb. 25 of this year (see “Deaths” on page 44of this magazine).

To raise awareness, “HOD puts many Vanderbiltunderclassmen on city buses for the first time intheir lives,” says Sharon Shields, professor of thepractice of health promotions and education, whojoined the Peabody faculty in 1976 and is herselfdeeply passionate about community outreach. Whilebus rides are not high-tech, the department’s Website is (http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/depts/hod/),and it displays a list of some 35 pre-screened com-munity service agencies students may serve. Studentsperuse the site to select the service work they findappealing while Shields combs the city for suitableorganizations to add to the list.

HOD students sometimes accomplish amazingfeats, says Shields. This year four students drew onmaterial from various HOD courses to design a planof affordable housing and childcare in Nashville’sWoodbine neighborhood. The group has taken itsproposal to the Vanderbilt Institute for Public PolicyStudies and the Nashville Mayor’s Office of Neigh-borhoods.

“These students have exemplified one of thedefining outcomes of the HOD program,” declaresShields. “They clearly demonstrate that they are andwill be making a difference in society.”

The program’s graduates emerge as versatile,flexible, and equipped to assume leadershippositions wherever they light. HOD chooses onlythe best applicants for admission. In fact, HOD’sentrance requirements are among the most competi-tive at Vanderbilt. “It’s true, we take the cream offthe top,” department chair Joe Cunninghamobserves, “but we like to think we’re responsible forsignificant value added.”

HOD’s best advertisement, however, is its rosterof graduates. Like Bob Innes, they are multifaceted,multitalented, and success driven. Innes is more thana splendid administrator, a brilliant idea man, andan effective educator. He is a jazz buff, a competitiverunner, and a published songwriter. He is also a manwho won’t get caught sitting on his laurels. Thewheels of his mind spin and whirl, weaving ways toevolve HOD, to refine it and redefine it, and tomake it better. HOD graduates share many of thosetraits.

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Professor RobertInnes, founder anddirector of Peabody’sundergraduate program in humanand organizationaldevelopment

HODetailsHOD is a complex

program thatdefies shortand simple

explanation,but findingsolutions to

common humanproblems is at the heart

of it.

■ HOD is the largest under-

graduate major at Vanderbilt,

with more than 700 students

enrolled; there are nearly 2,200

alumni of the program

■ 32 percent of all current

HOD students transferred into

the program from other

Vanderbilt academic programs

■ HOD’s stringent admissions

requirements make it one of

the University’s most competi-

tive undergraduate programs

■ HOD graduates report some

of the highest starting salaries

among all Vanderbilt under-

graduate alumni

■ The program’s unique com-

munity service component is

not optional; all students do

field work as volunteers for

numerous local social-service

agencies

■ Nearly 60 percent of HOD

graduates are offered perma-

nent jobs as a result of their

internships

■ HOD’s full-time, semester-

long internship requirement—

the capstone of the program—

places students in a wide range

of for-profit and nonprofit

organizations in six cities:

Nashville; Atlanta; Washington,

D.C.; New York; San Francisco;

or Cambridge, England

■ Undergraduate HOD

students may complete a

master’s degree in human,

organizational, and community

development within one year

of completing their bachelor’s

degree

26 P E A B O D Y R E F L E C T O R 27

B ig Bu s i n ess■ Jeffrey Owen, BS’92, MBA’99

Fortuitous! That’s the magic word for JeffOwen’s HOD internship with Nashville-based Dollar General Corp., a major retailcorporation with 5,500 stores nationwideand annual sales of $4.5 billion. Top man-agement quickly spotted Owen’s potential,taught him the basics, and whisked himoff to Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate Schoolof Management to earn his MBA.

Though Owen has no systems experi-ence and knows little about technology, heis director of store systems technology forDollar General. No problem.

“Being a manager is about leadership—the kind of leadership taught in the HODprogram. And it’s not about technology,”says Owen. “Management skills transfer acrossdepartments, and the technology we’re concernedwith is a computer system to make store managers’jobs easier.”

Owen knows about store managers’ jobs. Hehappened along as Dollar General was designing anew management-training program. They used himas a guinea pig, he says, putting him through hispaces at all levels in all departments. “I’ve doneeverything from managing stores to sweepingfloors,” he says, “and I can tell you from experiencethat nobody can understand a store manager’s jobuntil he’s done it.”

HOD sharpened Owen’s people and leadershipskills. Football taught him teamwork. One-on-oneexchanges with faculty helped him focus. And Dol-lar General just keeps moving him up.

Owen is close to another HOD graduate whoacknowledges a slight twinge of envy. That would behis spouse, Tulsa native Meghan MontgomeryOwen, BS’92, who graduated with a double majorin HOD and French. The couple now has three chil-dren, ages 5, 3, and 1. “I always thought I’d have ahigh-powered career,” says Meghan a bit wistfully,“but for now I’d rather be at home.”

The Ar t s■ Adelaide Mallette Vienneau, BS’90

Put Tchaikovsky’s “Allegro Brilliante” on the stereo,and Adelaide Vienneau is on her toes, literally. Theseremembered strains often “muscle my memory,” shesays—a souvenir from her first career.

At 40, Vienneau manages community relationsfor Nashville’s Frist Center for the Visual Arts, amajor arts center that opened in 2001 in the formerhome of the city’s art-deco main post office onBroadway. But ballet remains hidden in her heart,

her head, and yes—in her muscles.Vienneau danced with the Nashville Ballet as

Adelaide Mallette during her high school years.After graduation, she received an offer that wouldfulfill any dancer’s fondest fantasies: an opportunityto study under celebrated dancer/choreographerGeorge Balanchine. Accordingly, her higher-educa-tion ambitions were placed on indefinite hold.

Mallette was able only to meet Balan-chine and dance for him just before hisill-timed death. So she settled for threeyears with New York’s School of Ameri-can Ballet before accepting a bid to joinDance Theatre of Harlem. Then camethe phone call: “Apply for a passport,and do it now. You’re going on tour.”

From 1983 to 1988, Malletteperformed in major cities throughoutEurope, the U.S., and South America,often in coveted lead roles. She was fea-tured with the Dance Theatre on CBS’s“60 Minutes” and at the 1984 closingceremonies of the Olympic Games in LosAngeles.

But the physical demands of profes-sional ballet are hard on the human body,and she’d already undergone back sur-gery. At 26 she weighed the advantages ofretiring from the stage. “I could havedanced for another five or 10 years,” shesays. But then there was Jim Vienneauback home in Nashville. “While I wasaway, we logged so many frequent flyerhours that I could fly free to Hawaii onour honeymoon.”

Her dancing career behind her, Vien-neau craved a university education. “I

had already chosen Vanderbilt and had heard somany good things about HOD, so I enrolled.” Itturned out to be all she had hoped for.

The more Vienneau learned, the more certain shebecame that her niche was in social services. “Iwanted to work with people, to help them improvetheir lives,” she says. Through HOD she served theUnited Way and YWCA of Nashville and MiddleTennessee. From 1992 to 1999 she worked for theYWCA, first as director of after-school programs.From there she was named area director for the Y’sdomestic violence program and shelter, and then sheserved as vice president of the Y’s violence interven-tion programs.

Vienneau joined the Frist Center last year fromSt. Luke’s Community House, a child-care centerand emergency social services agency, where she wasassociate executive director overseeing internaloperations. As community relations director for theFrist Center, she is helping to ensure that the center’sexhibitions and programs are accessible, affordable,educational, and fun for people of all ages.

Today the Vienneaus have been married 12 yearsand have an 8-year-old son, Preston. Jim Vienneauowns his own graphic arts business. “My husband ismy best friend and my soul mate,” she says, “andmy son is the joy of my life. I’ve never beenhappier.”

Med i c i n e■ Dr. I. Clifford Retief, BS’87

Clifford Retief didn’t choose HOD, but he chose tokeep it. The rangy teen tennis star from Johannes-burg, South Africa, was casting about for a univer-sity scholarship in 1984 when Vanderbilt camethrough for him. But it was too late for him tochoose a major, and faculty advisers placed Retief inHOD.

“They told me I could change majors secondsemester,” he says. But HOD’s concerned, commit-ted faculty had him hooked. He played tennis forVanderbilt for four years, and out-of-town gamesand long practice hours preempted many requiredoff-campus activities. “The faculty never held itagainst me that I was a jock,” he says.

After graduation, Retief hit the professional ten-nis circuit. “Win or lose, I had to give it a shot. I hada great time, but I didn’t make a lot of money. Mytennis game was good enough to make a living, butlittle more.” He returned to Tennessee to take upwhere he’d left off with a certain Vandy Arts andScience major named Carla Rumley. But by thattime, Rumley was in medical school in Memphis.

Retief had always planned to follow his physi-cian dad into medical school. By meticulous selec-tion of HOD electives, he had already met pre-medrequirements. He courted and married Rumley, andwent off to Chicago to enroll in the Scholl College of

Jeffrey Owen’s HOD degree led him to the DollarGeneral Corp., where he is director of store systems for the company’s 5,500 retail stores.

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A former professional dancer, Adelaide Vienneau now serves Nashville’s new Frist Center forthe Visual Arts as community relations director.

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Dr. Clifford Retief, a South African who came to Vanderbilt to play tennis, parlayed his HOD experi-ence into a medical career. Today he is a Nashville-area podiatrist.

“I wanted to work with

people, to help them

improve theirlives.”

PEYTON HOGE

interpreting for Spanish-speaking patients in a Provi-dence emergency department.

“In the sixth grade my mother insisted I studySpanish,” he says. “I didn’t want to, but now I’mfluent. Mom had the foresight to recognize that asignificant Hispanic population was on the way. Ididn’t have a clue.

“So listen up,” he warns. “There will be timeswhen your mother knows better than you. So dealwith it.”

Ed ucat i on■ Leigh Zimmerman Gilchrist, BS’92, MS’00

Sprawled in the sunshine on Alumni Lawn duringVanderbilt’s Rites of Spring in 1988, high schoolsenior Leigh Zimmerman of Richmond, Va., shuf-fled through papers looking for her notice of accept-ance to Peabody College. Her mind was made up.“Once I saw the Vanderbilt campus, I knew I be-longed,” she says. “I signed the papers and pickedout my dorm room that very day.”

When Gilchrist says she belongs, it’s no emptyobservation. Most days find her on the ground floorof the Mayborn Building where she serves as gradu-ate assistant to Sharon Shields while she completesher studies and dissertation in Peabody’s higher edu-cation doctoral program. “I’ve been lucky thatway,” she says. She was also graduate assistant to EdMartin during her master’s program in counseling.

Gilchrist said she chose HOD because it fit heraspirations for a career in community service. Shecomes from a family determined to make a differ-ence. Her brother is an Episcopal minister; her sisterconducts a prison ministry. Even before enrolling inHOD, Gilchrist served as a volunteer in facilities forassisted living and elder care.

Her HOD internship was a change of pace. In thesummer of 1988, she became a management traineewith the Park Regency Hotel in Washington, D.C. Itwas her first experience with a for-profit business. “Ithought I should at least check out the other side,”she says, “and I actually enjoyed the summer.” Butthe internship confirmed what she already knew:Her heart was in community service.

“That’s the great thing about HOD,” sheexplains. “You get to explore. It’s brilliant how it’sset up in that way.”

Returning to Nashville, Gilchrist worked for theSalvation Army and then served four years withWomen in Community Service, a national welfare-reform organization that no longer operates inNashville. The agency’s focus was teaching life skillsto mothers on welfare. In the meantime, she marriedmusician/songwriter John Gilchrist, who is amongthe many in Music City working as a waiter andbartender until he gets that big break.

Like a typical HOD alumna, Leigh Gilchrist con-tinues to broaden her horizons. She is particularlyinterested in research on how mental and emotionalillnesses affect college retention, and she is exploringsuch areas as anxiety, depression, and eating disor-ders.

One of her favorite projects has been teachingsurvival skills to welfare mothers for Women inCommunity Service, at which she moved from pro-gram coordinator to agency director in four years.The program included 10 weeks of lessons in parent-ing, job searching and interviewing, hygiene, angermanagement, drug and alcohol awareness, and simi-lar survival topics. Upon completion, participantswere awarded diplomas.

Members of one of Gilchrist’s graduating classeshad their diplomas reduced, laminated, and framed.They presented the finished product to Gilchristwith a note: “We couldn’t have done it withoutyou.” Tears glisten in Gilchrist’s eyes as she tells thestory. “You know,” she says, “that’s the sort of thingthat makes it all worthwhile.”

Julia Helgason, formerly a staff writer for the Dayton Daily News, is now a Nashville freelancewriter and frequent contributor to the REFLECTOR.

R E F L E C T O R 2928 P E A B O D Y

Podiatric Medicine. Though their paths oftencrossed, the Retiefs’ happily-ever-after days wouldhave to wait for completion of medical school,internships, residencies, and fellowships that playedhavoc with married life.

All that behind them, the Retiefs returned toNashville last year to put down roots. Dr. CarlaRetief practices dermatology in the Green Hills area,and Dr. Cliff Retief is on the staff of Summit Med-ical Center in Hermitage treating diabetic foot dis-ease.

At 40, his confidence, charisma, and charm shinethrough. In addition to professional success, Retiefhas qualified for a commercial pilot’s license andsometimes flies charter planes. He has kept up histennis game, ranking 12th in the country in the 35 to40 age bracket. He hopes to top that this year in the40 to 45 competitions.

For the first time ever, the Retiefs have bought ahome, a charming two-story south of Nashville.They moved in March and are considering optionsfor decorating the nursery they hope to fill. Mean-time, they’re puppy shopping.

Technol ogy■ Jonathan DiOrio, BS’99

Jonathan DiOrio has grabbed hold of a risingmeteor and won’t let go. After two years and a stringof promotions with Tellme Networks, the 25-year-old HOD graduate was recently named thecompany’s business development manager. Tellme isa mushrooming technology company in the heart ofSilicon Valley. Its business is making telephoningfaster, cheaper, and easier to use by “replacing net-work prompters with a unified Internet-poweredsolution.”

DiOrio says that means getting connected to yourparty without detouring through mazes and menus.Tellme technology can save large corporations mil-lions of dollars a year, he says.

DiOrio was among the first employees hired backwhen Tellme founders were running the business outof somebody’s garage. He worked 60 or 70 hours aweek then—just as he does now. As Tellme grows,DiOrio moves up. No computer whiz, DiOrio zipsalong with no trouble. “I wing it,” he says. “If I geta tough question when I’m closing a deal, help is asclose as my laptop.”

DiOrio is the eldest of three brothers born andreared in Providence, R.I. Middle brother Christo-pher completed requirements for his HOD diplomain December 2001. Jonathan has already started thehard sell on third brother Michael, who is still inhigh school.

The DiOrios are a traditional, close-knit family.Their father is an obstetrician/gynecologist; theirmother was a nurse who helped her husbandthrough medical school. The DiOrios believe thateducation and hard work separate the winners fromthe mediocre. They set high standards.

Jonathan DiOrio graduated from Phillips Acad-emy in Andover, Md., in 1996 and could have hadhis pick among Ivy League universities. “But all Iwanted then was to get out of New England,” hesays. “I wanted to experience another part of thecountry, get a feel for a different kind of Americanculture. I came to Tennessee and fell in love withVanderbilt and the South.”

DiOrio proved his love by treating himself tocowboy boots and a Stetson. Initially, he was anArts and Science major. “But I kept hearing all thesegreat things about HOD, and I went to talk to BobInnes,” he says. “Wow! What a super-neat guy! Wehit it off, he signed the papers, and I was in.”

Late to the program, DiOrio missed out on someof the required service work. He compensated by

Jonathan DiOrio was reared in New England, educatedin the South, and now works in the high-tech heart ofSilicon Valley, where he is business development man-ager for Tellme Networks, a burgeoning telecommuni-cations firm.

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Leigh Gilchrist is an HOD alumna who is back atPeabody working toward a doctorate in higher education. Her heart is dedicated to community service, and HOD helped her explore the ways inwhich she could serve.

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“Listen up.There will be times

when yourmother knowsbetter thanyou. So deal

with it.”

30 P E A B O D Y R E F L E C T O R 31

Peabody grads grapple withtheir first year of teachingby Ned Andrew Solomon

A ndy Evans, BS’01, was an excellent student in a difficultand demanding program at Peabody College, double

majoring in elementary education and language and literacystudies. But since graduating last May, he has faced a muchmore daunting challenge: convincing a class full of first gradersat Nashville’s Charlotte Park Elementary that he’s the boss.

For many first-year teachers, transitioning from sitting in alecture hall to standing at the head of the class is a rude awak-ening. Despite four years of intensive study of educational the-ory and philosophies, and a mentored term in the role ofstudent teacher, nothing quite prepares one for coordinating theentire classroom experience and the inherent knowledge thatthe book stops here.

CCllaassssrroooomm MMaannaaggeemmeenntt 110011Though countless factors impact a student’s achievements orlack of progress, the bulk of student success rests squarely onthe teacher’s shoulders. So does the responsibility of keepingorder and controlling student behavior in the classroom. ForEvans, management issues, even with 6- and 7-year-olds, havebeen his toughest task.

“In my classroom management course in Peabody, I wastaught to be consistent with discipline or I would suffer fromthe consequences,” he says. “I was taught to adopt a disci-pline plan, firmly establish it early in the year with the stu-dents, make sure they understand it, and stick with it. But Ihave been inconsistent, and have suffered for it. When you’reinconsistent, it sends mixed messages to children. Studentsdon’t know when they will be corrected, so they just do what-ever they want and risk their chances of getting in trouble.”

Fortunately, Evans has been able to take a deep breath anddig down into the resources gathered while at Peabody todevelop a plan for getting his classroom back on track. Slowly

but surely, discipline and stability are returning.Katy Greenslade, BS’01, encountered a very different man-

agement issue in her first year at Nashville’s Berry ElementarySchool, where she teaches a special preschool class for chil-dren with autism. For her, gaining student control was not theproblem. It was working collaboratively with other adults inthe room.

“By far, my biggest challenge this year has been workingwith assistants,” says Greenslade. “Having two additionaladults in the classroom who I have to trust and to whom Ihave to relinquish control is very difficult for me. I alwayswant to be in control since I’m the one who is held account-able for my students’ progress, but at the same time I mustacknowledge how much my assistants can promote thatprogress as well.”

Margaret Smithey, senior lecturer in Peabody’s Departmentof Teaching and Learning, tries to instill in her students theunderstanding that basic classroom management is the make-or-break component in nearly every aspect of the educational expe-rience. Classroom management involves establishment andregulation of rules and procedures, classroom arrangement,management of instruction and student behavior, and organiza-tion of student work—all the particulars that enhance the learn-ing environment and support opportunities for the student.

“We go into great detail,” explains Smithey. “Where doyou want the students to put their finished papers in order tocut down on confusion? If a student has a question, is he sup-posed to go to the teacher during seat work or raise his handand signal so the teacher can come to him? All those littleintricacies of classroom management contribute to a smoothlyrunning class and can greatly impact on-task and off-taskbehavior.”

Although first-year teachers have heard all this in theirPeabody classrooms, effectively implementing these basictenets of sound teaching while balancing all the other aspectsof being in a new position is tricky, and frequently forgotten.

“The bottom line for us in terms of how well prepared stu-dents feel,” says Smithey, “is whether or not they are able tomake these connections when hearing it at the University, asthey must when they are actually in the classroom, on theirown, making all the decisions. It becomes real then, and sincethe job is overwhelming, it can be difficult to process it all.”

Still, Smithey believes Peabody can give its future teachersonly the foundation. The most crucial classroom-managementdecisions must be based on a particular teacher’s personality,his or her philosophy of education, the group of childrenbeing taught, and the kind of climate he or she wants or needsto create in the classroom.

TTeeaacchheerr TTrraa iinn iinngg aatt PPeeaabbooddyyAll Peabody students begin their teacher training with foun-dational courses in the various theories and philosophies ofeducation and developmental psychology. Then, depending onan elementary or secondary track, students take literacycourses and methods in social studies, science, and math, orthey concentrate in a particular content area.

Near the end of their Peabody education, undergraduatesget 15 weeks of experience as a student teacher, with approxi-mately six or seven weeks per placement. Although Peabodygraduate students may choose the traditional student-teaching

route, most take advantage of an internship program thatlasts an entire year, teaching solo in a mentor teacher’s class-room and lead teaching 70 percent of the time.

To ensure the quality of the mentors in student-teaching andinternship placements, and to augment their ability to commu-nicate effectively what Peabody students need to learn, Peabodyhas trained 79 experienced teachers as part of a cooperativementoring effort with Metro Nashville Public Schools. As aprovision of this unique program, two new teachers areassigned to each mentor teacher. Mentors are given release timeby Metro Schools to visit the new teachers’ classrooms, or forthe new teachers to spend time in the mentors’ classrooms, toobserve and collaborate.

Peabody’s teacher preparation appears to be paying off. Forthe past several years, an astounding 90 percent of Peabody’slicensed graduates have landed in teaching jobs or graduateschool by the time of their graduation. For last year’s graduat-ing class, the percentage was even higher, with 95 percentemployed or continuing their studies. Although 50 percent ofrecent graduates have begun their teaching careers in MiddleTennessee or the Atlanta area, Peabody alumni have surfaced inschools across the United States and in 19 foreign countries.

Chris LaFevor, who keeps track of graduating students asVanderbilt’s director of teacher licensure, has a file full of com-ments from alumni who credit their Peabody education withproperly preparing them, and who acknowledge Peabody’s rep-utation for opening doors that otherwise may have remainedclosed to them.

CCrreeaattoorrss ooff CChhaannggeeSmithey is the first to admit that Peabody’s successes begin withthe recruitment process. She believes Peabody accepts into theprogram, and gives back to the educational community, thecream of the crop.

“We get such good students—students who are committedto teaching,” says Smithey. “They are obviously not in it for themoney. They are doing it because they have a heart and a mindfor service and education, have been very successful in theirhigh school or college experiences, and are usually very intelli-gent and have had lots of meaningful educational advantagessuch as traveling and studying abroad. We capitalize on thoseattributes because we encourage them to be effective decision-makers. Many of our graduates become creators of change, andbring innovation into their schools.”

According to Smithey, Peabody is also exceptionally strongin fostering the collaboration that takes place between the stu-dents and the University during their transition times of studentteaching or interning. Collaborators, who might be facultymembers, adjunct faculty members, or doctoral students whohave taught in a particular content area are in the classroomonce a week observing the student teachers or interns, confer-encing with them afterwards, and frequently addressing issuesof concern during phone conversations between scheduled vis-its. Few other teacher-training institutions provide that inten-sive level of guidance and leadership.

Although Peabody does not offer graduates ongoing supportin any formalized fashion, some new teachers, like Jana Hosen-feld, MEd’01, actively seek it, and gratefully find it. Hosenfeld,an alumna of the graduate program in secondary education,acknowledges that the ongoing support she has received was

Survival in the Trenches

ILLUSTRATION BY DREW WHITE

WWhheenn tthhee LLiigghhtt GGooeess OOnnTypical obstacles and hectic schedules aside, each of these fourfirst-year teachers experienced powerful moments of clarityand accomplishment that contributed to their sense ofpurpose, and helped them remember why they originally hadchosen this profession. For Greenslade, it was the successfultransitioning of one of her students into a typical classroomwith appropriate

sup-ports.

“After months of working to includeone of my students in a typical pre-kindergarten class,”

she says, “I was able to convince others of the need to movehim to a less restrictive environment. He is now in a blendedclass where he gets the support of a special education teacherwith two assistants, as well as constant interaction with typicalpeers. He has made gains we never could have predicted.”

For John Hertel, it was turning one of his toughest studentadversaries into an ally. “I had one particular student who wasgiving me a heck of a time throughout the first quarter of theschool year,” he relates. “He was a constant disruption. I wascontinually sending him out of the classroom, and a few timeshe became verbally confrontational. Eventually, I realized Ineeded to take a different approach to the situation.”

Hertel began to follow his school’s discipline guidelines andeventually, the student was suspended. Following conferenceswith the school’s responsibility teacher, he returned. “When thesecond quarter began, I had this student for two class periods,”continues Hertel. “I thought it was going to be the end of me!However, because of the actions I had taken the first quarterand the conferencing the student had received from our excel-lent responsibility room teacher, he became a different student.Now, most days he greets me in the hall with a pleasant ‘Hello,Mr. Hertel.’”

Jana Hosenfeld saw the light go on in the face of one stu-dent, a child who disliked reading but found herself engrossedin a book Hosenfeld had recommended. Currently teaching atJohn Trotwood Moore Middle School in Nashville, she gaugesher success as an educator in simple terms. “Smiles, studentsrepeating phrases that are difficult for high school students tocomprehend—these things show that I’m being effective,” shesays. “Most of all, it is the relaxed but challenged looks on theirfaces when they enter my room.”

And in the midst of Andy Evans’s elementary school trialsand tribulations, he has concluded that he is right where he issupposed to be. “I think the most rewarding experience I havehad with my students came when they started reading,” he says.“I know that I was taught effectively at Peabody about readingeducation and how to teach it, but I was still unsure how well Iwould do.

“When my students began reading, independently, I knewthat I had really made a difference. I actually had taught thestudents, and they learned. I was a teacher.”

Ned Andrew Solomon is a freelance writer and a formerresearcher at Vanderbilt’s John F. Kennedy Center for Researchon Human Development. He is now director of Partners in Pol-icymaking, a program of the Tennessee Council on Develop-mental Disabilities.

instrumental in getting her through her first year in thetrenches.

“My professors are in contact with me,” says Hosenfeld,“just to check out how well it’s going and how they mightadjust their own curriculum in light of how we, as former stu-dents and current teachers, have or have not felt prepared. Ialso feel that I can call on any of my teachers for advice or sug-gestions. They have left the door open and are so receptive tomy needs and questions.”

Hosenfeld also praises the training offered by Peabody’sClassroom Organization and Management Program (COMP),developed by Professor Carolyn Evertson, for helping her main-tain classroom control. (For more information about COMP,see the feature article “Common Sense into Common Practice”on pages 15–17 of this magazine.)

TThhee RReeaall WWoorrllddA strong educational foundation, a great reputation, and fac-ulty and mentor support can only help so much. At the end ofthe day, the teacher is alone with the demands of student workand the weight of just plain getting by. Hours of planning andpiles of paperwork alone can be overwhelming, especiallywhen added to the stress and strain of basic survival.

“For the most part, after completing my Peabody training,I felt that I was prepared to teach,” says Andy Evans. “How-ever, I think the shock wasn’t necessarily that I was a class-room teacher, but the fact that I was on my own, in the realworld, with bills and managing an apartment. Meanwhile, Iwas supposed to teach first graders five days a week for ninemonths. After work, I eat and sleep!”

Katy Greenslade, who studied secondary education andspecial education, with concentrations in early childhood andcomprehensive special education, echoes Evans’s emotions,with a nostalgic look toward a less pressured time.

“Being a real classroom teacher carries considerably moreresponsibility than being a college student, even a studentteacher,” she says. “It is still strange to look back at collegeand think of how much free time I had. Simply working in aclassroom for seven and a half hours or more was a bigadjustment. I must repeatedly remind myself that this is onlymy first year, and that I should not expect everything to beexactly as I want.”

Ironically, John Hertel, MEd’01, another first-year teacher,attributes the extras he puts into his schedule as the secret tohis success. Besides teaching 10th- and 11th-grade English atAlgonac, Mich., Community High School, Hertel is defensivecoordinator for the varsity football team, the freshman bas-ketball coach, and a co-sponsor for the National Honor Soci-ety. His extracurricular activities began even before his tenureas a teacher did.

“I worked with students throughout the summer as a foot-ball coach,” says Hertel, “and by the time the school yearbegan, I was already very familiar with the community andthe attitudes of the students and educators in the community.I would recommend that all aspiring teachers work in schoolsas much as possible prior to their first year of teaching. I can’temphasize enough the importance of being involved withschool activities after regular school hours are over. As aresult, the students see your interest in them and begin torespond to you in a more positive way.”

32 P E A B O D Y R E F L E C T O R 33

Andy Evans says classroom management and consistency of discipline have been the greatest obstacles

in his first year as an elementary-school teacher.

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Jana Hosenfeld says contact with her Peabody professorshave helped her get through her first year as a middle-school

teacher. “They have left the door open and are so receptive to my needs and questions,” she says.

John Hertel is a first-year high-school teacher in Michigan.He says becoming familiar with his school’s community andworking with students in a variety of after-school activities

have helped him weather first-year storms.

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Elementary-school teacher Katy Greenslade says her firstclassroom victory came when she worked to move a student

with learning disabilities into a typical pre-kindergartenclass. “He is now in a blended class and has made gains we

never could have predicted,” she says.

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R E F L E C T O R 3534 P E A B O D Y

The generosity of the Frist family hasbecome legendary in Nashville, with the

family name associated with a host of localcultural, medical, and educational enterprises,including several at Vanderbilt.

The Frists have an especially close con-nection to Peabody College through DorothyCate Frist, who earned her bachelor of sci-ence degree from Peabody in 1932. Mrs.Frist was one of 14 children, all of whomwere college graduates, and three genera-tions of her family have been associated withPeabody. As wife of Dr. Thomas Frist Sr.,the founder of Hospital Corporation of Amer-ica (now known as HCA—The HealthcareCompany), she instilled in their children herlifelong commitment to education.

A few years ago the Frist family establishedthe Dorothy Cate Frist Honor Scholarship atPeabody to honor Mrs. Frist, who died in Jan-uary 1998. Today she is remembered throughthe first recipient of the Frist Honor Schol-arship, Catherine Mary Minihan.

Minihan is a senior at Peabody, major-ing in elementary education and sociology.She came to Vanderbilt from Rochester, N.H.,because she desired to experience a differ-ent part of the country and a different cul-ture. What she discovered was a love forteaching and working with children. She hascompleted practica in both second-grade andfourth-grade classrooms, appreciating thedifferences between the two age groups.

“I was a little worried that I wouldn’t likethe fourth-grade level because I was sure Ionly wanted to work with younger children,but I wound up having a fabulous time withthat age group,” says Minihan. “I adoredboth practicum experiences. They gave mea chance to be in a classroom and teach beforedoing my student teaching, which was a keybenefit. The excitement of the students whenthey are enjoying school and learning is con-tagious.”

Minihan says graduate school will be inher future, possibly to earn master’s degreesin both education and social work, in addi-tion to teaching. Peabody, she says, has pre-pared her for all these endeavors.

“Peabody is a great place because it’s smallenough to allow you to know many of thepeople who share your major, which givesyou a wide circle of peers to consult aboutelementary education,” says Minihan.

“I’ve also had the chance to get to knowmy professors on a personal level. They arealways available to meet with me and offerguidance. Peabody has been a wonderful

place for me.”Minihan says

she’s learnedmany importantthings at Peabody,including the factthat she can’tlearn everything.“There is no waya teacher canknow every an-swer to everyquestion, and stu-dents are always

going to ask questions the teacher did notanticipate. A teacher needs to be as preparedas possible, and if questions come up thatyou don’t know the answer to, you makeit a learning experience in the classroom.

“I’ve also learned the importance of get-ting to know students personally. By doingso, a teacher is able to relate to her students’lives, tailor lessons to differing student abil-ities, and create a more cohesive classroom.”

One of the most thrilling opportunitiesMinihan has had at Vanderbilt came lastsemester when she studied at the Universityof New South Wales in Sydney, Australia,with three other Vanderbilt students as partof the University’s Junior-Year Abroad pro-gram. In Sydney she completed her final labscience course and three courses in sociol-ogy while soaking in the Aussie culture.

“There were so many things to experiencein Sydney, and it was great to study sociol-ogy in a different country because it’s a dis-cipline in which you can clearly see the differentperspectives people have,” says Minihan.

Back in the U.S., Minihan will be work-ing to wrap up her Peabody education withthe help of the Dorothy Cate Frist HonorScholarship, a half-tuition award. Throughthe scholarship, she has had the opportunityto meet members of the Frist family, includ-ing alumna Mary Frist Barfield, BS’68, daugh-ter of Thomas and Dorothy Frist, and herhusband, H. Lee Barfield II.

“This scholarship lies very close to theirhearts, and I am so grateful for having beenselected to receive it,” says Minihan. “I havea very strong commitment to education, andthe Frist family has a strong commitmentto Peabody.

“The scholarship is allowing me to takeout far less in school loans, which will begreatly helpful as I make plans for graduateschool. I’m quite honored to be associatedwith them.”

Zeppos Named University Provost

In a further effort to more closely align theUniversity’s academic and developmentfunctions, Nick Zeppos, who last year wasnamed vice chancellor for institutional plan-ning and advancement, has been appointedto the newly created position of provostand vice chancellor for academic affairs.The change was effective March 15.

In addition to his role as chief academicofficer, Zeppos continues to lead the Uni-versity’s 200-member alumni and devel-opment staff, which is currently preparingfor a $1.25 billion-plus comprehensive fund-raising campaign.

“We must have a process and structureto ensure a straight line from our academicgoals, as developed by the faculty and deans,to the allocation and growth of ourresources—in short, a seamless integrationof mission and resources,” said Chancel-lor Gordon Gee in a statement to the Uni-versity community. “This requires a newstructure with a new vision.”

Zeppos, who also is a professor of law,will now be responsible for conceiving,implementing, funding, and assessing theUniversity’s academic and research mission,said Gee. “And under this integratedapproach, he will ensure that our develop-ment and alumni efforts are inextricablylinked to that mission.”

Gee also announced the appointmentof David Williams, general counsel and sec-retary for the University, to the newly cre-ated position of vice chancellor for studentlife and university affairs. He praised bothmen for their “great intelligence and cre-ativity, boundless energy and enthusiasm,and a zealous commitment to excellence.”

Before his appointment last year as vicechancellor, Zepposhad served as asso-ciate provost andas associate dean ofVanderbilt LawSchool. The Mil-waukee native hasbeen at Vanderbilt14 years.

Former provostThomas Burish,who served in thatrole for 10 years,has left Vanderbiltto become the next president of Washing-ton and Lee University in Lexington, Va.

Peabody Awards Inaugural Frist Scholarship

Catherine Minihan

Peabody CollegeAlumni Association

Peabody welcomes the followingnew members to its 31-memberAlumni Association Board ofDirectors. A complete listing ofAlumni Board members appears onpage 52 of this magazine.

Grace Veronica Ambrose, EdD’97Wappingers Falls, N.Y.

Ann Scott Carell, BS’57Nashville

Kimberly Dayani, BS’93, MEd’00Mission Woods, Kan.

Bonnie Leadbetter, BS’92, MEd’94Atlanta

J. Hunter McCarty, BS’68, MA’71Franklin, Tenn.

Donna B. McNamara, PhD’77Morristown, N.J.

Julie Brown Williams, MA’74,EdD’86Whites Creek, Tenn.

Lauren Wilson Young, BS’97,MEd’99Memphis, Tenn.

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Nick Zeppos

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James Hogge, right,associate dean for

faculty and programsand professor of psy-chology, visits withPeabody senior Court-ney Dashe, second fromleft, and her parents,Murray and RobinDashe of Oakland,Calif., during Peabody’sParents LeadershipLuncheon in March.

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Parent Pow-Wow

The latest news from Vanderbilt is just a click away when you sign up for ourfree monthly e-mail newsletter for alumni, .commodore e-news. Read

what others are saying about Vanderbilt in the mass media. Keep up with class-mate accomplishments and favorite professors. Learn about new programs andthe latest research advances on campus. Check out what’s going on in Com-modore athletics.

TO SUBSCRIBE, send an e-mail message to lew.harris@vanderbilt.edu. Pleaseinclude your name, degree, class year, and e-mail address, and ask to be added tothe mailing list for .commodore e-news. We’ll take it from there.

Sign Up for Vanderbilt’s Free E-Newsletter!

W E L O O K F O RWA R D T O H E A R I N G F R O M Y O U !

When a loved one passes away, one of the decisions you may face is how best to create afitting memorial—a tribute that heralds the difference this special person made in thelives of those around him or her. You may be content to ask that contributions in lieu offlowers be made to the charity of one’s choice. Or you may wish to link those gifts tosomething more personal.

One important way in which you, family members, and friends may honor the memory of your loved one isthrough gifts to Peabody College.

Perhaps your loved one was an alumnus whose memories of the Peabody years always brought a smile.Or perhaps a Peabody education made possible some wonderful career opportunities. Or maybe he or shesimply cared about the exciting discoveries being made each day at one of the nation’s top colleges forresearch in education and human development.

Whatever the reason, a memorial gift to Peabody College, in any amount, helps to foster the causesand ideals your loved one held dear. These gifts are fully tax-deductible and, if one wishes, may be restrict-ed for a specific purpose. A real difference can be made at Peabody if the following is included in your

loved one’s obituary notices: “In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial gifts be sent to PeabodyCollege, Vanderbilt University, Office of Gift Records, VU Station B 357727, Nashville, TN 37235-7727.”

In Lieu of Flowers …

If you would like more information about opportunities to honor a loved one through a gift to Peabody College, please contact:

TRES MULLIS, director of alumni and development, Peabody College of Vanderbilt UniversityPeabody Box 161, 230 Appleton PlaceNashville, TN 37203-5701

PHONE:615/322-8500E-MAIL:tres.mullis@vanderbilt.edu

36 P E A B O D Y R E F L E C T O R 37

Mildred B. Vance, MA, was namedone of three 2001 DistinguishedAlumni/ae of Arkansas State Univer-sity in September. A resident of Sedg-wick, Ark., Vance has made a lifetimecareer at ASU, from which shereceived her bachelor’s degree in1946. She first was appointed super-visor of the kindergarten at the uni-versity’s demonstration school in1948, and today she is a professor ofeducation. A member of numerousprofessional organizations, she also

has served in leadership roles, includ-ing president of ASU’s Faculty Asso-ciation. Before joining the ASUfaculty, Vance was a public schoolteacher in Arkansas and Michigan,and also worked for the FBI in Wash-ington, D.C., and the American RedCross in Illinois.

’52 REUNION OCT. 25–26, 2002

’56Betty J. Parker, MA, and FranklinParker, EdD, have written a chaptertitled “George Peabody, Founder ofModern Philanthropy” for the bookNotable American Philanthropists, to bepublished by Greenwood Press in 2002for the Indiana University Center on Phil-anthropy. The Parkers, who have writ-ten extensively about the life of GeorgePeabody, live in the Uplands RetirementCommunity in Pleasant Hill, Tenn.

Alumni news may be submitted toTHE PEABODY REFLECTOR, ClassNotes editor, VU Station B 357703,2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville,TN 37235-7703. You also maysubmit your news by e-mail tonelson.bryan@vanderbilt.edu.

’42Joe T. Brandon, BS, writes that he hasenjoyed contacting old friends fromPeabody through Vanderbilt’s alumnidirectory (most recently published in2001), to many of whom he had notspoken in more than half a century. Healso has reunited Peabody alumniwith the College’s Alumni Office,which he says gives him “a feeling ofsatisfaction somewhat like that expe-rienced by the midwife at the birth ofa prince.” When he travels toNashville from his home in ElSegundo, Calif., he enjoys visiting thesite of the former Peabody campusjust south of the downtown area,where the “old stone castle” (mainadministration building) still stands.(See the inside front cover of this mag-azine for more about this building.)

’49Mack L. Graves, BA, MA’50, and hiswife, Mildred, celebrated their 50thwedding anniversary last August inSt. Petersburg, Fla., where they ownGraves and Graves, a commercialreal-estate development and leasingenterprise. A former Brooksville,Fla., high-school principal, Gravesretired from the St. Petersburg JuniorCollege English department in 1976after 18 years. He is an active Kiwan-ian and World War II veteran whowas presented the Purple Heart, theBronze Star, and the Combat InfantryBadge. “Dr. Susan Riley was mymajor professor at Peabody and byfar my favorite teacher,” writesGraves. “She was a ‘gem of purest rayserene.’ I love Peabody!”

’51Bernie W. Simpkins, BS, has made alarge gift to Brevard Community Col-lege in Florida, which created in hishonor the B.W. Simpkins BusinessSeminar for Entrepreneurial Develop-ment. The seminar series featuresentrepreneurs who speak about theirsuccesses and the innovative ideasthat helped them build their busi-nesses. The first of these seminars wasin 2001.

N O T E SC L A S S

When artist Mel Chin creates, hiswork is rarely confined to canvas,

clay, or stone. Instead, Chin’s composi-tions are conceptual first, created in amind accustomed to thinking both insideand outside Pandora’s box. Then his trulyoriginal and unique vision is laid lovinglyon landscapes as varied as video gamesand toxic landfills.

Case in point, consider Chin’s totallynovel concepts for rebuilding the areawhere the World Trade Center stood.Selected to participate in an exhibit ofnew design proposals for the Center, Chinenvisioned a whole new infrastructure—a floating roadway, 72 feet above theexisting streets and buildings. The diversemodular designs “link and lock” and uti-lize all new sources of ecological powerand water treatment that “plug and play”into an integrated system for recreationand work. The World Trade Center exhibitopened at the Max Protech Gallery inNew York and is now in Washington,D.C., soon to be headed to Rotterdam,Berlin, and possibly Venice.

Perhaps Chin’s penchant for thinkingin a whole new paradigm began atPeabody. He entered in the ’70s on a

National Merit Scholarship. Nashville’shills seemed preferable to his flat Hous-ton homeland—inspiration for the tra-ditional landscapes and sculptures Chinassumed his career would take. But hequickly used the college’s challenging cli-mate to expand into a whole differentdirection. Even a mandatory class inceramics exploded into topics as diverseas prehistoric Japanese pottery, Chinesephilosophy, French symbolism, and thewomen’s movement—“all in a city whereI could, at the same time, question thepolitics of someone like Merle Haggard,”recalls Chin.

With Chin’s creativity loosed as a con-temporary artist, there’s been no con-taining what has emerged from the boxever since. Awards and grants are numer-ous and include those from the NationalEndowment for the Arts and the Rock-efeller Foundation; academic appoint-ments include consulting professor atStanford University and advisory boardmember at Carnegie Mellon University;and his work is housed in public col-lections from the Federal Reserve in Wash-ington, D.C., to the Museum of ModernArt in New York.

Just as Chin’s vision for a new NewYork extends beyond “monolithic sky-scrapers and memorials,” his interest inart, in its largest sense, extends beyondschools and museums to other venuessuch as popular culture. “I’m especiallyconcerned with the generational trans-fer of ideas and information,” he says.

So when the Museum of Contempo-rary Art asked Chin to conceive of a pub-licly interactive art project in Los Angeles,Chin set up the Gala Committee. Usingstudents and teachers and working withwriters and producers of TV’s hit show“Melrose Place,” over a two-year periodthe committee designed and inserted secretprops into the set. From a quilt patternwith the chemical structure of the abor-tion pill RU486 to a container of Chi-nese food with slogans from the TiananmenSquare protest, the program had botha private and a primetime life.

The museum exhibited hundreds ofthe objects, which were later sold atSotheby’s. And through syndicationand reruns, “Melrose Place” is destinedto continue for the next 20 years, caus-ing an ongoing conversation about an art concept never conceived before.That’s just the way he wants it. AnotherMel Chin original.

—Carol Wissmann

Melvin Chin (BA’75)

Artist Without Boundaries

P E A B O D Y P R O F I L E

Chin’s concept for a rebuilt World Trade Center is in a traveling exhibit that openedin New York and Washington, D.C., and is headed for Europe.

Artist Mel Chin at work on one of hissocially relevant pieces

have been combined intoone event for all alumni and

friends—we’ve called it“extraVUganza”—and your favoritemovies will be backdrops for thecelebration. Peabody’s pre-mergerreunion classes are included in thefun, too, as we offer you a very

special invitation. These are just some ofthe things planned:

V A N D E R B I L T U N I V E R S I T YOCTOBER 25–26, 2002

This year Vanderbilt “goes HOLLYWOOD” for thebiggest alumni weekend ever—andPeabody alumni have a front-rowseat for all the fun!

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

• An all-alumni Homecoming tailgate

•Reunion parties for Vanderbilt’s undergraduate classes of1952, 1957, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992,and 1997

•A Commodore football game against the Universityof Connecticut

• A spirited Homecoming parade

•Educational events featuring professors from all Vanderbiltschools and colleges

• Cocktails and dinner Saturday night for all Peabody pre-merger classes, with historic college and class-specificmemorabilia on display

• An “extraVUganza” celebration with dancing and more forall Peabody and Vanderbilt graduates!

WE’LL SEE YOU IN OCTOBER!

Homecomingand Reunion

Registration

forms for extraVUganza

are scheduled to be mailed in August,

and online registration will also be

available. If you have questions about

extraVUganza, e-mail the Reunion

Office at reunion@mcmail.vander-

bilt.edu, call us at 615/322-6034, or

check out the Web site at www.vander-

bilt.edu/alumni/reunion.

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Birthing from Within: An Extra-Ordinary Guide to Childbirth Prepa-ration, has been named to LamazeInternational’s all-time top-10 list ofbooks recommended to parents andfamilies. He co-authored Birthingfrom Within with midwife and child-birth-education innovator Pam Eng-land. Birthing from Within, whichHorowitz calls “an unusual mélangeof psychology, midwifery, art, hypno-sis, and Zen,” helps couples preparefor childbirth as an emotional andspiritual rite of passage rather than

primarily as a medical event. Thebook is now in its fourth printing.

’82 ’83Judy Harrison, BS, of Atlanta isauthor of Getting Together withGod: Weekly Bible Verses for YourFamily to Learn and Apply, pub-lished by Looking Glass Books. Thebook is divided into monthly themes

REUNION OCT. 25–26, 2002

with a corresponding Bible verse foreach week, encouraging children tolearn the verses and then apply themto their lives.

’84Deanne M. Collins, MEd, EdD’91,lives in Spring Hill, Tenn., where shefounded the Spring Hill Arts Center in1998. Actors with the SHAC rou-tinely play to packed houses at theorganization’s makeshift theaterbehind the old local high school, and

Collins has created acting classesoffered by the SHAC. A New Yorknative and former professionaldancer, Collins landed in Spring Hillfour years ago when she married alocal resident. “We’re drawing allthese people who wanted a taste oftheater,” says Collins. “It’s still notenough opportunity for all those whowant to perform. There are so manytalented artists here. Moving toSpring Hill was a real spark for me.”

Deborah Faulkner, EdD, is deputy

’57 ’58D.C. Pratt, MA, of Riverdale, Ga.,retired in 1992 after 40 years as ateacher and school administrator. Heis author of 15 books involvingpoetry, local history, short stories,and mountain speech. In September2001, the board of commissioners ofFayette County, Ga., and the mayorof Fayetteville issued official procla-mations honoring Pratt for his ser-vice to the community as aneducator, through his church work,and through his involvement withthe local Optimist Club. In March1998 the Georgia House of Repre-sentatives commended him for hisdistinction as a poet.

’62 Miriam W. Meyers, BA, recently tookearly retirement from MetropolitanState University in Minneapolis,which she has served for 30 years, firstas the president’s executive assistantand then as a faculty member teach-ing linguistics, writing, and educa-tional planning. She also was auniversity publications editor. Meyersis author of A Bite Off Mama’s Plate:Mothers’ and Daughters’ Connec-tions Through Food, publishedrecently by Bergin & Garvey Trade(Westport, Conn.) Beginning with alook at food’s place in the greater fam-ily, the book explores the connectionsmothers and daughters enjoy in thekitchen and beyond.

’67 ’68Florine Watson Harper, BS, MA’70, aretired teacher, reports that her hus-band, Buford, passed away in June2001 after nearly 60 years of mar-riage. She has moved from her homein Thomaston, Ga., and is now livingin Pelham, Ala., and spending timewith her two children.

Sandra Etheridge Silverstein, BS, ofBrownsville, Tenn., is in her sixth yearas director of the Haywood CountyChamber of Commerce. During hertenure, tourism has flourished andmany new industries have come to thecommunity, thanks in part to a specialincentive package she helped developto recruit retail businesses and boostthe economy. Silverstein says thechamber will now take aim at the localschool system.

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REUNION OCT. 25–26, 2002

REUNION OCT. 25–26, 2002 ’69Jimmie Robinson Felder, MLS, ofMontgomery, Ala., is the recipient ofnumerous community awards andhonors, many of them as a result of herpersistence in establishing a library forher native Lowndes County, Ala. Theformer librarian of Montgomery’sCarver High School was so distressedby the low standardized test scores inLowndes County, which had no pub-lic library, that she began a crusade inthe mid-’80s to create one. Sheworked five years to secure funding,books, and the support of state andlocal officials, and in May 1990 theHayneville Public Library openedinside a former doctor’s office. As ofAugust 2001, more than 19,000books had been catalogued, and anew, larger library building may be onthe horizon. Felder has been honoredas Citizen of the Year by the Mont-gomery Alumnae Chapter of DeltaSigma Theta Sorority (1991), Womanof the Year by the Mu Chapter of IotaPhi Lambda Sorority (1999), and Vol-unteer of the Year by the JuniorLeague of Montgomery (2000).

’70Brenda Blalock Kirkham, MLS, hasretired after 31 years as the librar-ian/media specialist for BrookhavenMiddle School, which is part of theDecatur (Ala.) City Schools. Her hus-band, Bill, also is a retired teacher.

Janice Brady Zimmerman, BS,MA’71, EdS’72, an active Nashvillecommunity volunteer, has beennamed to the Baptist ComprehensiveBreast Care Center Advisory Board.

’72 John V. Richardson Jr., MLS, is a pro-fessor of information studies in theGraduate School of Education andInformation Studies at the Universityof California–Los Angeles. Currentlyon sabbatical leave until September2002, Richardson is serving as a Pres-idential Scholar of Virtual ReferenceServices at Library Systems & Ser-vices L.L.C. in Germantown, Md. Heis studying virtual question answer-ing, notably the measurement andevaluation of virtual questionanswering, benchmark data, and sta-tistical profiles. Richardson is editorof Library Quarterly.

’73Gail S. Gibson, EdS, PhD’74, is acounselor with Trinity CounselingCenter Inc. in Huntsville, Ala. A

REUNION OCT. 25–26, 2002

licensed professional counselor,national certified counselor, and sub-stance abuse counselor, she retiredlast year from a 25-year career as aprofessor in the psychology andcouseling department at AlabamaA&M University.

’74 John W. Long, PhD, EdD’95, is anassistant professor in the policy studiesdepartment in the College of Educa-tion at the University of Illinois atChicago. Last summer he was awardeda Fulbright grant to teach AfricanAmerican studies at the Institute forEnglish and American studies at Hum-boldt University in Berlin, Germany,during the 2001–2002 academic year.Long’s research areas include educa-tional policies affecting the AfricanDiaspora in the United States and Ger-many and policies affecting AfricanAmericans in higher education.

John M. McLaughlin, BA, has beennamed executive vice president foreducation leadership and strategicplanning for Nashville-based TheBrown Schools, the nation’s largestprovider of education, therapeutic,and family support services for chil-dren with extraordinary needs.McLaughlin began his educationcareer as a teacher at WestminsterSchool in Nashville and later foundedand directed the city’s Benton HallSchool, serving students with learningdisabilities. He served as associateprofessor of educational administra-tion and leadership at St. Cloud Uni-versity before founding the EducationIndustry Group and the JohnMcLaughlin Co. The Brown Schools,a privately held company, servesyoung people at 33 locations in 10states and Puerto Rico.

Alvin T. Simpson, BA, is a notedchurch musician, ordained minister,and a professor of music at AlcornState University. He leads churchmusic workshops and has served asarranger and accompanist for numer-ous gospel-music recordings.

’76Darwin L. Henderson, EdS, has beennamed to the seven-member nationaljury that selects outstanding AfricanAmerican authors and illustrators forthe American Library Association’sCoretta Scott King Award. Theaward, a tradition since 1972, honorsauthors and illustrators whose workspromote an understanding and appre-ciation of the African American cul-ture and its contributions to the

American dream. An associate pro-fessor of education at the Universityof Cincinnati, Henderson wasselected for the jury because of hisexpertise in multicultural literaturefor children and young adults. He isactive in several national literacy andchild advocacy organizations.

Roberta Ann Pointer Smith, PhD, ofIndianapolis is both a licensed clinicalpsychologist and psychiatric nursewho has served as a clinician in com-munity mental health and privatepractice, as an academician, and as apublished health-care researcher andreviewer for research publications.She has been an associate professorand interim dean for Vanderbilt’sSchool of Nursing, an associate pro-fessor at the University of Illinois, andthe Mary Margaret Walter Professorof Nursing at Indiana University inIndianapolis. She continues to workat Indiana as an adjunct professor andhas embarked on a new endeavor asresearch consultant and editor atwww.research-help.com. “I studiedwith many illustrious Peabody facultywho continued as colleagues when Ijoined the Vanderbilt faculty,” writesSmith. “I will always be grateful toPeabody’s psychology program atthat time, as it helped me launch a suc-cessful and multi-faceted career.”

’77 ’79James B. Hawkins, MS, has accepteda position in his hometown of Gal-latin, Tenn., as attorney for the LegalAid Society of Middle Tennessee andthe Cumberlands,providing free civillegal assistance forthe poor, theelderly, and vic-tims of domesticviolence. He for-merly worked withBellSouth’s legaldep-artment in Birmingham, Ala., asheadquarters general attorney, sub-sidiary general counsel, and sub-sidiary president. An Eagle Scout, hehas been active in church and com-munity activities, including Habitatfor Humanity and the United Way.Hawkins is a former member ofPeabody College’s Alumni Associa-tion Board of Directors.

’81Rob Horowitz, MA, PhD, an Albu-querque psychologist and author,recently learned that his book,

REUNION OCT. 25–26, 2002

R E F L E C T O R 3938 P E A B O D Y

Bobby Jones (EDD’80)

Great Gospel

P E A B O D Y P R O F I L E

Bobby Jones’s voice comes over thetelephone like gospel gold. Rich, res-

onant, and just raspy enough to remindyou he’s still firmly grounded in thisworld—but half in heaven, half here. Themix is evident in his conversation.

“We ran it with very little money. Itwas divine guidance,” says Jones, refer-ring to “Bobby Jones Gospel,” cable tele-vision’s longest-running entertainmentprogram. Airing since 1980, the programremained number one in popularity onBET (Black Entertainment Television) formore than 20 years. When Viacom recentlypurchased BET, Jones, now 63, relin-quished duties as producer but remainsas host. “I’m not going to be doing thisforever.” He pauses. “But maybe I will.”

“Bobby Jones Gospel” is followed by“Video Gospel,” hosted by Marcus Wil-son, a 1992 Peabody alumnus and for-mer Vanderbilt quarterback. The twooften travel internationally with Jones’sNashville Super Choir.

Jones’s interest in gospel dates backhalf a century. Graduating from highschool at age 15, he needed funds to attendcollege. Answering an ad for a Sundayschool piano player, he transitioned fromwhat he calls his rural Tennessee hymn-singing Methodist childhood to urbanBaptist gospel.

He graduated from Tennessee StateUniversity at 19 with a bachelor’s degreein education and taught while goingfor his master’s. And as gospel musicevolved from its simple beginnings involv-

try” with a House joint resolution bystate Rep. Henri Brooks (D–Memphis).The resolution was presented in the stateHouse of Representatives with Jonespresent.

“And this Thursday night, I’ll be atthe White House as a special guest fortheir tribute to gospel music,” smilesJones. It’s his third invitation.

“I don’t believe all this would havehappened had I not used the organi-zational skills I gained at Peabody,”reflects Jones. “I developed a wholebelief system and skills transferableto any aspect of life. It was a holisticapproach.” The White House honor,adds Jones, is one more “confirmationfrom God that I’m on the right trackdoing things to help mankind.”

Sing that song, Bobby.—Carol Wissmann

Editor’s Note: More about Bobby Jones can befound on the Web at www.bobbyjonesgospel.com.

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ILLEing piano, soloists, and quartets intotoday’s choirs, ensembles, and full-scaleproductions, Bobby Jones’s career in gospellikewise blossomed.

Peabody played a part in his success.While he chose Peabody from which toearn his doctorate “because of its reputa-tion as an outstanding school for teach-ers,” Jones praises the College for givinghim so much more. “It opened my mindto be creative, understanding, and flexi-ble—a wonderful experience.”

After teaching at the elementary-schooland university levels, and as a consultantfor McGraw-Hill Publishers, Jones turnedhis attention to gospel music. Half a life-time later, he has received a GrammyAward for “I’m So Glad I’m Standing HereToday,” performed with Barbara Man-drell and the New Life Singers; Dove andGabriel awards; and an International FilmFestival Award for writing and perform-ing “Make a Joyful Noise,” a black gospelopera that aired on PBS.

And if you think Jones has alreadyhit all the high notes, it’s not so. He justbegan TV’s “Let’s Talk Church”; contin-ues to broadcast his weekly radio show,“Bobby Jones Gospel Countdown,” fromhis Nashville home; and his autobiog-raphy, Make a Joyful Noise: My 25 Yearsin Gospel Music, was recently publishedby St. Martin’s Press.

The State of Tennessee officially rec-ognized Jones on April 3 “for his laud-able service to Tennessee and his manyachievements in the gospel music indus-

R E F L E C T O R 4140 P E A B O D Y

chief of the Metropolitan NashvillePolice Department. In March shereceived the 2002 Nashville ATHENAAward, presented annually by 30Nashville women’s organizations torecognize a business woman who hasattained and personifies the highestlevel of excellence in her profession.She was honored last summer as a rolemodel for young women by theYWCA’s Academy for Women ofAchievement. Faulkner developed theLaw Enforcement Accreditation Coali-tion of Tennessee, an organization thatassists law-enforcement agencies withthe national accreditation process.

’85Ivan J. Reich, BA, JD’88 (Law), is ashareholder in the Fort Lauderdale,Fla., law office of Becker & Poliakoffand has been elected secretary of theYoung Members Section of the Com-mercial Law League of America.Reich focuses on bankruptcy, land-lord-tenant disputes, securities liti-gation, debtor-creditor relations,collections and foreclosures, andappellate law as part of his firm’s com-mercial litigation group.

’86Aimée Favrot Bell, BS, lives inMetairie, La., and reports that she ishappily married with three children,and “had a kick” at her 15-year Van-derbilt Reunion. She also says sheloved attending Professor John Mur-rell’s retirement reception at Peabodyin October 2000.

’87 Gail S. Ward, BA, MEd’90, reportsthat after a year in Oxford, England,as curator of C.S. Lewis’s formerhome, she is now living in theNashville area and working as a pri-vate tutor for five high-school stu-dents who perform in a singing anddancing group.

’88David Dyson, EdD, is president ofDyson Leadership Institute and thePlan for Life Alliance Network. Hehas been appointed to serve on theNorton Advisory Board for manage-ment and professional education atBirmingham-Southern College.

Brenda J. Gilmore, MEd, is directorof mail services for Vanderbilt Uni-versity and a Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County councilwoman forDistrict 1. In January she received theOutstanding Public Services Award

REUNION OCT. 25–26, 2002

course in diversity, as well as certifi-cate programs in diversity and inhuman resources management. She isa student adviser and career coun-selor, works with disabled students inher classes, and teaches online classespart time for the University of Mary-land. Higgins has been inducted intothe Human Rights Hall of Fame inMontgomery County and wasselected by her college’s president tobe the county’s representative for Jan-uary’s national Martin Luther King Jr.commemoration events in Washing-ton, D.C.

’92 Joanne H. Evans, EdD, received the2001 Excellence in Professional Nurs-ing Leadership Award from the EtaTau Chapter of Sigma Theta TauInternational, the nursing honor soci-ety. Evans is chairperson of the Schoolof Nursing at Salem State College inSalem, Mass.

’94Candace Dawn Fruin, BS, MSN’95(Nursing), and James D. Stefansic,MS’96, PhD’00, were married June 23,2001, in Nashville, where they reside.Candace is assistant nurse manager ofthe neonatal intensive-care unit at Van-derbilt Medical Center, and James is aneuro-imaging engineer at VanderbiltResearch Center.

Leigh Windsor Taylor, BS, and BrianKoch were married July 21, 2001, inChapel Hill, N.C. She is a teacherwith the Onslow County PublicSchools, and he serves in the U.S.Marine Corps.

Ann Greenwood Watson, BS,MSN’96 (Nursing), and her husband,Drew, announce the birth of theirdaughter, Ann Lawton Watson, onJuly 10, 2001.

’95Stephen J. Bistritz, EdD, has beennamed to the board of advisors for theCenter for Professional Selling at Ken-nesaw State University’s Michael J.Coles College of Business. He joinsseveral corporate partners through-out Georgia who serve on this board.Bistritz is a managing partner withSiebel MultiChannel Services, anAtlanta-based international salestraining and consulting firm. He pre-viously worked 28 years with IBM.

Lauren Ford Geddes, BS, married TedDuff on June 23, 2001, in Locust Val-ley, N.Y. Lauren is formerly the book-

REUNION OCT. 25–26, 2002

ings editor for Allure magazine, andTed is an associate for a New York in-vestment bank.

Anthony L. Grande, MEd, has beenappointed by Tennessee Gov. DonSundquist as commissioner of thestate Departmentof Economic andCommunity Devel-opment (ECD). Heformerly served asECD deputy com-missioner, as wellas assistant com-missioner of Ten-nessee Business Services and directorof Manufacturing Services. Duringhis service with the department, theState of Tennessee achieved its threebest years in private capital invest-ment and job creation, attracting $5billion in 1998, $6 billion in 1999,and $7 billion in 2000. In 1999 Ten-nessee was chosen, for the first time,as State of the Year for its tremendouseconomic accomplishments.

John C. Thorsen, MEd, marriedLaura Morsman on July 14, 2001, inDeerfield, Mass. Both work at theMercersburg Academy in Pennsylva-nia, where he is director of the alumniand development office and she isassociate director of admissions.

’96Daniel S. Ryan, MEd, has been nameddirector of human resources for SmithSeckman Reid, a Nashville-basedengineering firm. He also serves aschair of the Nashville Chamber ofCommerce Employers Council.

Michelle Walker Ungurait, MEd, issocial studies supervisor for the Ten-nessee Department of Education’sDivision of Curriculum and Instruc-tion for grades K–12. In this role shecoordinates the writing and imple-mentation of Tennessee’s social stud-ies standards and benchmarks, servesas board member for a number of Ten-nessee educational agencies, and actsas a member of the board of examin-ers for NCATE. She also representsTennessee as the National Council ofState Social Studies Supervisors mem-ber of the National Council for theSocial Studies. Ungurait recently trav-eled to Korea for three weeks on aKorea Society fellowship, and she isnow pursuing her doctorate at Ten-nessee State University.

Margaret D. Warner, BS, and JacobS.S. Gearhart, BA’95, were marriedDec. 1, 2001, in Atlanta. They live inNew York City where Margaret is

from the Tau Lambda Chi chapter ofthe Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity for hercontributions and achievements inthe community.

Scott D. Miller, EdS, president of Wes-ley College in Dover, Del., has beenawarded the Presidential Medal ofHonor by Universidad Interameri-cana in San Jose, Costa Rica. He waspresented the medal at the university’scommencement ceremony in Marchby Luis Alberto Monge Alvarez, for-mer president of Costa Rica, andWilliam Salom, president of Universi-dad Interamericana. Miller and Ros-alie Mirenda, president of NeumannCollege in Pennsylvania, were hon-ored for their leadership in developingan international educational consor-tium benefiting students from CostaRica and Panama.

Anita Perry, MS, lives in Nashvillewhere she is director of developmentfor a nonprofit organization, SAM-Ministries.

’89Elizabeth Boucher Law, BS, receivedher doctorate in educational leader-ship from the University of Georgia inMay 2001.

’90Nick Dunagan, EdD, was namedchancellor of the University of Ten-nessee’s Martin campus last fall. Hebegan his work at UT–Martin in 1973as director of development and wenton to serve as vice chancellor fordevelopment and administration, vicechancellor for student affairs, andexecutive vice chancellor. He hasserved as interim chancellor threetimes. A UT-Martin alumnus and Mis-souri native, Dunagan also currentlyserves as executive director of West-Star, the university’s regional leader-ship program for West Tennessee. Healso holds a law degree from the Uni-versity of Missouri. Dunagan’s daugh-ter, Tracy Vander Meeden, works forVanderbilt as an activities coordinatorfor the Division of Institutional Plan-ning and Advancement.

Lina Bowyer Ellis, MEd, BA’87 (Arts& Science), and Joe Ellis, BA’87 (Arts& Science), announce the birth oftheir son, Matthew Joseph, July 4,2001, in Atlanta. Lina is a teacher forThe Westminster Schools, and Joeworks for Acordia Southeast.

Nancy B. Higgins, EdD, is a professorat Montgomery College in Rockville,Md., where she has developed a

P E A B O D Y P R O F I L E

Robin-Lynn Clemmons (BS’84)

Lina Bowyer Ellis (BA’87, MED’90)

Charlotte Fausett McGreaham (BA’70)

The Westminster Three

Charlotte McGreaham was chair ofthe mathematics department at

The Westminster Schools in Atlantawhen Lina Bowyer Ellis and Robin-Lynn Clemmons, a former math studentof McGreaham’s, applied for positionsthere. “I was very impressed with theireducational backgrounds and theirstrong commitment to teaching,” saysMcGreaham, “and recommended thatWestminster hire them.” It turned outthe three educators had more in com-mon than a love for math: All hadreceived their teaching training fromPeabody College.

Having majored in mathematics atVanderbilt from 1966 to 1970,McGreaham decided to pursue a teach-ing certificate. She took several educa-tion courses and completed her practiceteaching at Peabody. “We were encour-aged not to simply depend on the text-book, but to look for other sources toenliven our classrooms and providedepth to the students’ understanding,”she explains. “We were told that asteachers, we had to be lifelong learners.I continue to learn from my colleaguesand my students.”

Clemmons chose Vanderbilt specifi-cally for the education program atPeabody. “I knew I wanted to teach inthe Southeast and that I wanted a schoolwith a superior reputation,” she says.“My strengths as a teacher, in my earlyyears, can be credited solely to Peabody.”Bowyer Ellis majored in mathematicsand economics at Vanderbilt and, after athree-year term at a consulting firm,returned to Peabody for her M.Ed.

Thanks in part to the accomplish-ments of these three Peabody alumnae,Westminster can boast a very impressivemath faculty. McGreaham is a tableleader for the Advanced Placement cal-culus exam reading, grading all the AP

calculus exams for the entire country.She has earned two teaching awardswhile at Westminster: the Alumni Fel-low Award for Distinguished Teachingfor 1992–93, and the Goizueta Facultyof Distinction Award for 2001–02.

Clemmons received the 2001 VVLavroff Calculus Award from GeorgiaState University. She has been a speakerat numerous local and national mathe-matics conferences and was nominatedfor the 2002 RadioShack NationalTeacher Awards. Bowyer Ellis hasserved as an AP statistics exam readerfor the past five years. In 1997 she wasawarded the Tandy TechnologyScholar Award for Mathematics andScience Teachers.

The three often collaborate on creat-ing hands-on activities, games, andother techniques to motivate their stu-dents, and they share a desire for using

technology to enhance student under-standing of difficult math concepts.They also encourage each other to fur-ther their careers by pursuing profes-sional goals.

Clemmons believes a strong connec-tion exists between Westminster andVanderbilt, as many Westminster par-ents and alumni are Vanderbilt grads.All three teachers are doing their part tokeep the tradition alive by taking everyopportunity to recommend Vanderbiltto their students—perhaps planting theseed for future Westminster, Peabody-trained professors.

“I tell them Vanderbilt is a greatschool with an excellent reputation,”says McGreaham, “and that the contactsand friendships they will make there areinvaluable.” These three colleagues and companions are living proof.

—Ned Andrew Solomon

Peabody alumnae Lina Bowyer Ellis, Charlotte McGreaham, and Robin-Lynn Clem-mons are all mathematics instructors at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta.

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R E F L E C T O R 43

John Herrin Teague, MA’52, ofFalkville, Ala., May 16, 2000.

Robert Lee Batson Jr., MA’53,MEd’55, of Lake Worth, Fla., 2001.

Sidelle B. Ellis, BLS’53, of Saluda, S.C.,Nov. 22, 1999.

Martha Elizabeth Hurst Rowland,MA’53, of Roswell, Ga., July 21, 2001.

Nine Mae Treadaway Smith, MLS’53,of Quitman, Ga., June 30, 2001.

Grace Long Barden, BS’54, of Colum-bia, S.C., March 13, 1999.

Grady Lee Beaty, MA’54, of Toccoa,Ga., Feb. 1, 2000.

Bryan McChord Williams, MAL’54, ofRolla, Mo., Sept. 9, 2001.

Fred W. Withrow, MA’54, of Sikeston,Mo., Aug. 30, 1999.

Dorothy Dean Cox, MA’55, of Salem,Mo., Dec. 14, 2000.

Geraldine Mae Miner, MA’55, ofOdessa, Fla., May 17, 2000.

James Frederick Ruggles, MA’55, ofMarietta, Ga., May 2, 2000.

George Leong, MA’56, of Hoboken,N.J., 2001.

Ralph Tharman Maxwell, MA’56, ofRoopville, Ga., April 2001.

Joseph Morris Chilton Jr., BS’57, ofNashville, May 30, 1999.

J. Martin Crosby, BA’57, of Jefferson,La., March 21, 2000.

Margaret Wixson Smith, MA’57, ofFitzgerald, Ga., Feb. 12, 1999.

Eleanor Ann Clay, BS’58, of Cullman,Ala., Feb. 3, 2001.

George Adam Lochner, MA’58, ofElizabethtown, Ky., Oct, 15, 2000.

Hilda Estela Martin, BS’59, of Lima,Peru, Feb. 10, 2001.

Charles William Hall, MA’59, ofStone Mountain, Ga., July 14, 2001.

Anita J. Mauldin, MA’59, of Wood-land, Calif., March 2001.

William B. Crowley, EdD’60, of WestColumbia, S.C., January 2002.

Lois Harrington Montgomery, BS’60,MA’64, of Austin, Texas, Aug. 13,2001.

Theresa Bervoets Sutherland, BS’60,of Memphis, Tenn., Jan. 18, 2002.

Dorothy Land, BS’61, of Lawrence-ville, Ill., Nov. 3, 2000.

Frances Morgan McCall, BS’61, ofFairhope, Ala., and Gulf Breeze, Fla.,Nov. 11, 2001.

Lee E. Williams Sr., EdS’61, ofHuntsville, Ala., July 2001.

Robert Lee Pafford, BS’62, of Rock-wood, Tenn., Sept. 27, 2001.

Clara Partin Sitz, BS’62, of Nashville,2001.

Laura Roberts Taylor, MA’62, of

Louisville, Ky., Oct. 29, 2001.

Marvin J. Gold, PhD’63, of Mobile,Ala., June 12, 2001.

Henry H. Lin, MAL’63, of Santa Bar-bara, Calif., Nov. 4, 2000.

Marie S. Marcus, EdD’64, of Arabi,La., March 23, 2001.

Frederick James Butler, BA’65, ofHoover, Ala., Jan. 9, 2002.

Edwina “Punch” Case Davis, BS’66,of Glasgow, Ky., Nov. 2, 2001.

James C. Norwood Jr., MA’66, ofNashville, Dec. 25, 2001.

Georgine S. Pindar, PhD’68, ofAtlanta, Aug. 7, 2001.

Dorothy Remington Pollard Lage-mann, MLS’69, BA’66 (Vanderbilt),of Alexandria, Va., June 29, 2001.

Walter T. Locke, EdS’70, of WestPalm Beach, Fla., Sept. 30, 2000.

Samuel Richard (“Dick”) Heflin Jr.,BS’72, of Franklin, Tenn., Feb. 10,2002.

Allan Clarence Peterson, EdS’73,PhD’74, of Sun Lakes, Ariz., Sept.15, 2001.

Sarah Antionette McDonald Smith,MA’74, EdS’77, of Nashville, Sept.24, 2001.

Horace Herbert Bradley, MLS’75, ofBath, N.Y., Jan. 22, 2000.

Thomas Marshall Kinder, EdD’75, ofBridgewater, Va., Oct. 22, 2001.

George Cliff Gillespie, PhD’76, ofMurfreesboro, Tenn., July 26, 2001.

Linda Poplin Roberts, MA’76, ofHendersonville, Tenn., Dec. 29, 2001.

Fred E. Ford, PhD’77, of Pulaski,Tenn., Jan. 13, 2002.

42 P E A B O D Y

Onie Lee Gibson, MA’40, of Besse-mer, Ala., Aug. 28, 2001.

Brownie Lea Spain, BS’40, of Her-mitage, Tenn., 2001.

Ruth Hines Temple, MA’40, of Bowl-ing Green, Ky., January 2002.

Mary Bible Williamson, MA’41, ofKnoxville, Tenn., 2001.

Mildred R. Lawrence, BA’43, MA’49,of Nashville, Jan. 26, 2000.

Frances Margaret Stewart, BA’43,MA’49, of Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 6,2002.

Carl F. Brown Sr., PhD’46, of Lexing-ton, S.C., Feb. 3, 2002.

John Gerald Parchment, MA’47,PhD’61, of Murfreesboro, Tenn.,Aug. 2, 2001.

Allen Early Stanley, BA’47, MA’53, ofClintwood, Va., Aug. 12, 2001.

Robert W. Hall, MA’48, of Staunton,Ill., Jan. 17, 2001.

Charles Everette Holt, BA’48, MA’49,of Roseland, Fla., Aug. 10, 2001.

Harry Harrison Kroll Jr., BS’48,MA’49, of Knoxville, Tenn., Oct. 31,2001.

Walter Keith Roberts, MA’48, of Pitts-boro, N.C., July 17, 2001.

Susan Almon Burzlaff, BA’49, ofMuscatine, Iowa, 2001.

Virginia J. Hamilton, BLS’49, of Sul-livan, Ind., Feb. 28, 1999.

Marjory E. Lewis, BS’49, of Prescott,Ariz., Dec. 9, 2001.

Vincent L. (“Bill”) DeShazo, MA’50,of Fort Myers, Fla., Sept. 28, 2001.

Eva Jane Park, MA’50, MEd’54, ofJesup, Ga., May 3, 1999.

Arthur Harold Thornberry, BA’50, ofNashville, Nov. 9, 2001.

Louise Davis Abell, BA’51, ofBrunswick, Ga., Aug. 2, 2001.

Margaret E. Biery, BS’51, of Glendale,Ariz., Sept. 13, 2001.

L. Bruce Robinson, MA’51, of Topeka,Kan., Sept. 22, 2001.

Hubert Fay Smith, MA’51, of Chat-tanooga, Tenn., July 19, 2001.

Keith Marshall Smith, MAL’51, ofRichmond, Va., June 7, 1999.

Leo Adron Beasley, MA’52, ofRoswell, N.M., Aug. 1, 2001.

Norman H. Cooke, MA’52, of Ash-burn, Va., July 31, 2000.

Florrie Beth Jackson, MAL’52, of LaFayette, Ga., Dec. 14, 2001.

Curtis Hudson Johnson, MA’52, ofJacksonville, Ala., April 11, 2001.

Robert Steinen, EdD’52, of DaytonaBeach, Fla., June 9, 2001.

Nancy Agnes Stoker, MA’52, ofWinona, Miss., Nov. 16, 1999.

marketing director for Worth maga-zine and Jacob is vice president of debtcapital markets for Deutsche Bank.

’97 Becky A. Boltz, MEd, BS’95 (Arts &Science), is a Peace Corps volunteer inChina. She finishes her service thissummer and plans to return to theStates to resume life as a teacher.

D. Brent Borders, BS, is a graduate stu-dent at Cornell University where he isstudying human resource management.

Ryan J. Keiser, BS, and JenniferMcKay were married May 27, 2001,in Santa Fe, N.M. They live in Dallaswhere Ryan works for TrammellCrow Co.

Mindy Peirce, BS, and Chad Pierotti,BA, were married June 16, 2001, inNew London, N.H. They live inAtlanta where Mindy is employed byMorgan Stanley and Chad isemployed by Frito-Lay.

’98Michelle Bargeron, BS, was marriedJuly 28, 2001, to Scott R. Taylor.They currently live and work inKiev, Ukraine.

Brooke Alexandra Brown, BS, andWilliam J. Helmstetter III, BS’97, weremarried June 23, 2001, in Bluffton,S.C. Brooke is an elementary schoolteacher in Alexandria, Va., andWilliam is a law student at GeorgeMason University.

Jeremy Chaussee, BS, reports that hegot married on June 26, 2001, andhas taken his wife’s last name, Poehn-ert. He lives in Boston, where heworks in the Simmons College ServiceLearning Office.

Emily C. Culver, BS, and Robert C.Bigelow, BS’99 (Arts & Science),were married July 21, 2001, inRidgewood, N.J. Emily is a kinder-garten teacher at Hunter’s Bend Ele-mentary School in Franklin, Tenn.,and Robert is a third-year Vanderbiltlaw student.

Amy Erbesfield, BS, was marriedAug. 4, 2001, to Kenneth M. (Trey)Clayton III, BS’97, in Atlanta. OtherVanderbilt alumni in the weddingparty were Sloane Wyatt Alford,BS’98; Laura Nuechterlein Weenig,BS’98; Amanda Hicks, BS’98; Char-lie Cox, BE’98; Jim Echols, BA’98;Jeff Leonard, BE’97; Ben Ellis,BE’97; Tom Mueller, BA’97; and

REUNION OCT. 25–26, 2002

Brett Lawton, BA’96.

Marianne C. Macomber, BS, andHunter M. Rice, BS’97, were marriedOct. 6, 2001, in LaGrange, Ga. Theylive in Nashville where Marianneworks for the Nashville Scene news-paper and Hunter works for the Ten-nessee Titans Radio Network.

Scott G. McEwen, MEd, has joinedBirmingham-Southern College inAlabama as assistant director foralumni affairs, in which he is respon-sible for the college’s annual alumnigiving program. He previouslyworked as a financial adviser withPrudential Securities in Birmingham.

’99Ashley E. Rogers, BS, worked oneyear after graduation tutoring sev-enth-grade students before taking ateaching position with Denver PublicSchools. She also coaches soccer. “Iam currently teaching in one of Col-orado’s poorest communities and lov-ing it!” writes Rogers. “I am learningand have been given so much by acommunity that many perceive ashaving nothing to give.” In June 2000she was in the wedding of SuzanneGoldstein, BS’99, and Rob Moore,BA’97. Other alumni in attendancewere John Ingram, BE’94; BryanMilo, BA’98; Carrie Stewart, BS’99;Jaime Hackeman, BS’99; and Eliza-beth Gwinn, BS’00.

Amy E. Herr, MEd, is vice presidentof Career Resources/Drake BearnMorin in Nashville, providing out-placement services and private careerconsulting to individuals in careertransition. She previously was associ-ate director of the Career Manage-ment Center at Vanderbilt’s OwenGraduate School of Management.

Debra Renee Johnson, BS, and JulianLee Bibb IV were married June 16,2001, in Franklin, Tenn.

’01Alissa S. Irion, BS, of Santa Paula,Calif., is completing one year in Japanas a selected participant in the JapanEnglish Teaching (JET) Program. Asone of approximately 2,500 programfinalists from the United States, Irionis working as an assistant languageteacher in Hasami Town, Nagasaki.The JET Program invites young col-lege graduates to Japan to teach Eng-lish in schools or to engage ininternational exchange activities atlocal government offices.

Emily E. Kiang, BS, lives in Dickson,Tenn., where she has just completedher first year of teaching in the multi-handicap class at Dickson CountySenior High School. She writes thatshe chose Dickson because her studentteaching was at the nearby elementaryschool and that she is “adjusting torural life slowly but surely.”

John C. Pitt, BS, of Wilmington, N.C.,won the 87th Carolinas Amateurchampionship match last July at theDunes Golf and Beach Club in MyrtleBeach, S.C. Though he reached thefinals of the 1999 North-South Ama-teur, the Carolinas Amateur is hisbiggest victory. Pitt’s father, Bill, cad-died for him.

DeathsSarah Alice Woodward, BS’21, ofYazoo City, Miss., Feb. 12, 2000.

Arline Bellamy, BS’22, of Scotts Val-ley, Calif., Nov. 29, 2000.

Georgia Plaine Evans, BS’27, of Her-mitage, Tenn., 2001.

Maebelle G. Harris, BS’27, of Atlanta,Oct. 18, 1999.

Pat H. Norwood, MA’28, of San Mar-cos, Texas, Feb. 1, 1999.

Armenia Louise (“Minnie Lou”)Shane Bailey, BS’29, of Franklin,Tenn., Nov. 17, 2001.

Elinor Josephine Ralston Binns,BS’30, of Nashville, Nov. 16, 2001.

Martha Geistman Campbell, BS’30,MA’35, of Abington, Mass., 2001.

Bessie Sherrod Dunton, BS’30, ofPoplar Branch, N.C., Dec. 15, 1999.

Rev. Edward T. Small, BS’30, of Bur-gaw, N.C., Oct. 1, 1999.

Rebecca Martin Steed, MA’30, ofAlexandria, La., March 18, 2001.

James E. Gibbs Jr., BS’34, MA’39,EdD’53, of Nashville, Nov. 16, 2001.

Harriett Sherrill Tant, BS’34, MA’57,EdS’59, of Hermitage, Tenn., Jan. 5,2002.

Grace Lee Martin Padgett, BS’35, ofThomasville, N.C., July 1, 2001.

Mary Frances Bradley, BS’36, MA’37,of Pleasant View, Tenn., Nov. 5, 2001.

Louise Woodruff Dean, BA’37, ofPotomac, Md., May 27, 2001.

Ellen Snell Coleman, BS’38, BLS’44,MA’59, of Nashville, Oct. 23, 2001.

Clyde Everett Reedy, MA’39, ofMadisonville, Tenn., Oct. 5, 2001.

Bowen Cox, MA’40, of Amarillo,Texas, May 12, 2000.

Dr. Sidney Clarence Garrison Jr.,BS’40, MD’43 (Medicine), of Mur-freesboro, Tenn., Nov. 9, 2001.

Leota Dunn has been a significant contribu-tor to the life and times of Peabody College

for more than 50 years. She was never a facultyor staff member or Peabody alumna. Neverthe-less, she participated in building the name andinternational renown of the College throughher work as co-author of Peabody educationaltests and materials and as a faculty wife. She wasa member of the Lloyd and Leota Dunn team—their family motto, “Press on fearlessly.”

The Dunns first came from Canada to the U.S.to study for Lloyd’s Ph.D. in special educationat the University of Illinois. They then moved toWashington where Lloyd did national studies ofthe competencies needed by teachers for therapidly growing field of special education. PeabodyPresident Henry Hill found Lloyd and broughtthe Dunns to Peabody. It turned out to be a coupin terms of the oft-cited two-for-one benefit ofemploying a faculty member and getting a hus-band and wife team.

Lloyd became the first director of Peabody’sDepartment of Special Education starting in1954. This program became and continues todayas one of the top five in the nation. Leota Dunnwas well known for her support and partici-pation in the life of the College and the specialeducation program, especially by the depart-ment’s students and faculty. Above all, she lentstrength to the high aspirations of her husband,Lloyd, and their son, Douglas.

As a team, Lloyd and Leota Dunn producedan extraordinary array of educational tests andinstructional materials. They developed thePeabody Picture Vocabulary Tests (PPVT),Peabody Individual Achievement Tests (PIAT),Peabody Language Development Kits (PLDK),and other materials known and used through-

out the world. LeotaDunn was co-authorof all of them.

Nearly every spe-ech and language ther-apist and schoolpsychologist has usedthe PPVT. Virtuallyevery Head Start andpreschool programhas used the PLDK. Numerous research stud-ies, master’s theses, and doctoral dissertationsusing these materials have contributed to thebody of knowledge for the education and treat-ment of children with disabilities. Royaltiesearned from these materials have been sharedwith the College since their earliest publication.The Dunns recently funded scholarships at FiskUniversity and have given more than $1 millionto fund the Dunn Family Chair in Psychoedu-cational Assessment, a research professorshipat Peabody.

Leota Dunn, most recently of Las Vegas, diedat home Oct. 1, 2001, at age 83. She was bornin 1917 in Canada where she grew up, was edu-cated, and taught school for many years. Shemet Lloyd as a fellow college student and becamehis wife of more than 60 years. The Dunns’ oneson, Douglas M. Dunn, a dean at Carnegie-Mel-lon University, and his wife, Karen, providedLeota and Lloyd with four grandchildren.

Leota Dunn is best remembered for her warmfriendship, generosity, joy in worldwide travel,her excellence at bridge, and her love of read-ing. She was a generous benefactor and friendof Peabody College and Vanderbilt University.

—Samuel C. AshcroftProfessor of special education, emeritus

P E A B O D Y B E N E F A C T O R R E M E M B E R E D

Leota M. Dunn, 1917-2001

44 P E A B O D Y

Elizabeth Lindsey Stevens, MLS’79,of San Francisco, April 22, 2001.

Susan Lynn Ray, BME’80, of Glen-dale Heights, Ill., Dec. 31, 2000.

Geoffrey Brackett Richards, EdD’82,of Horridgewock, Maine, Aug. 19,2001.

Michael Merle Fehl, EdD’85, ofMontpelier, Va., Nov. 15, 2001.

William Maiben Beard, BS’94, ofDaphne, Ala., Dec. 20, 2001.

Barry D. Gumb, MEd’94, ofCharleston, S.C., 2001.

Mark Hindy, BS’95, of New York City,Sept. 11, 2001. (See story on page 7.)

FacultyCharles B. Hunt Jr., BS’38, MA’38,former chairman of Peabody College’smusic department and longtime prin-cipal clarinetist for the Nashville Sym-phony Orchestra, died Jan. 25, 2002,in Paducah, Ky., at the age of 85. Arespected musician and leader, hisopen and informal demeanor madehim a mentor to many in Nashville’smusic community. Hunt joined thePeabody faculty in 1937, and a decadelater he completed his doctoral stud-ies at the University of California–LosAngeles, receiving the first doctoraldegree ever awarded by UCLA. Hereturned to Peabody and directed themusic program from 1955 until 1965,and then served as dean of the gradu-ate college for several years. In the1960s he was president of theNational Association of Schools ofMusic, and he also served as presidentof the Nashville Symphony Associa-tion. Hunt’s idea for Peabody Collegeto establish a pre-collegiate music pro-gram for talented youngsters fosteredthe creation of what is today the BlairSchool of Music at Vanderbilt. Huntis survived by his wife, Margaret; hisdaughter, Carol McElwain; twograndsons; and three great-grandchil-dren. He was preceded in death by hisson, Charles B. Hunt III.

Edward A. Martin, basketball coach-ing legend and emeritus Peabody asso-ciate professor of the practice ofhuman and organizational develop-ment, died Feb. 25, 2002, from com-plications following back surgery. Hewas 75. Born in Allentown, Pa., Mar-tin earned his bachelor’s degree fromNorth Carolina A&T University anda master’s degree from Temple Uni-versity. An exceptional athlete in col-lege, he joined the Philadelphia Stars,a team in the Negro American Base-ball League, in 1951 and later playedbasketball with the Harlem Globe-trotters. In 1955 he was appointedhead basketball coach for South Car-

olina State University, and in 1968 hebecame head basketball coach forTennessee State University, serving inthat role until 1985. At both universi-ties he has been honored as winningestcoach, with more than 500 career vic-tories to his credit. He produced 12All-American players and 16 NBAplayers, has been inducted into foursports halls of fame, and was namedNational Coach of the Year in 1972.In 1989, after serving as an assistantto Vanderbilt basketball coach C.M.Newton for four seasons, he joinedPeabody College’s faculty as an asso-ciate professor in the undergraduatehuman and organizational develop-ment (HOD) program. At Peabody,Martin was the father of the HODprogram’s community-service com-ponent. He directed and coordinatedthis effort and taught the pivotalcourse in service learning, drawingfrom his own dedication to servingothers. He retired from Vanderbilt in2001. Martin is survived by his wife,Ruth, and their two children, Edward

A. Jr. and Arnetta. The Ed MartinFoundation for At-Risk Youth hasbeen established by Martin’s family tocontinue his charitable work onbehalf of young people. Those wish-ing to support the foundation maysend contributions to P.O. Box 50427,Nashville, TN 37205-0427.

Anna Loe Russell, BLS’38, MA’42,former reference librarian for thePeabody College Library, died at herhome in Hermitage, Tenn., Feb. 5,2002. Russell grew up in Conway,Ark., and earned a bachelor’s degreein foreign languages from ArkansasState Teachers College (now the Uni-versity of Central Arkansas) beforeattending Northwestern Universityand Peabody College, where sheearned degrees in library science. Shetaught high-school English andFrench in Arkansas for several yearsand was assistant librarian for the Lit-tle Rock Public Library from 1938 to1941. She was assistant librarian atGreensboro College in North Car-olina, and assistant cataloguer and

assistant reference librarian at theWomen’s College of the University ofNorth Carolina from 1943 to 1946,before serving as librarian of Hender-son State Teachers College in 1947.She returned to Peabody College in1947, serving as reference librarianfor 26 years, until her retirement in1973. At Peabody she also compiledand edited the annual bibliography offaculty publications, and she com-piled the index for THE PEABODY

REFLECTOR. Russell was active in sev-eral professional library associations,including the Tennessee LibraryAssociation and 60 years with theAmerican Library Association. Shealso held membership at Nashville’sCheekwood Fine Arts Center and theCheekwood Embroidery Guild, andshe volunteered for WPLN radio’sTalking Library, reading the dailynewspaper for the visually impaired.Russell is survived by several niecesand nephews.

B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S O F T H E P E A B O D Y A L U M N I A S S O C I AT I O N

2 0 0 2 – 2 0 0 3

FRANK A. BONSAL III, President, Ruxton, Maryland, fbonsal@stpaulsschool.org

ANN CARELL, BS’57Nashville, Tennessee615/665-8857

LINDA BLAIR CLINE, MA’72Glencoe, Illinoislinda@apte.com

KIMBERLY DAYANI, BS’93, MED’00Mission Woods, Kansasdayanikm@aol.com

JONATHAN N. DYKE, BS’93Washington, D.C.dykej@executiveboard.com

JULIUS ANDREW EVANS, BS’01Nashville, Tennessee615/353-9618

TRICIA L. EVEREST, BA’93Oklahoma City, Oklahomatriciaeverest@aol.com

RUTH BISHOP HAGERTY, MA’61, EDD’84Gallatin, Tennesseerhagerty720@aol.com

MARY CAIN HELFRICH, BS’90, MED’92Nashville, Tennesseemaryhelfrich@home.com

BONNIE LEADBETTER, BS’92, MED’94Atlanta, Georgiablt121@mindspring.com

JOHN W. MADDEN II, BS’88Dallas, Texasjohn_madden@suizafoods.com

MARIAN HAYNESWORTH MAIER, BS’98Roanoke, Texashmaier@mindspring.com

FRANCES FOLK MARCUM, BS’67Tullahoma, Tennesseefmarcum@marcumcapital.com

JOHN B. MAZYCK, BS’95Montgomery, Alabamamazyck@merchantcapital.com

J. HUNTER MCCARTY, BS’68, MA’71Franklin, Tennesseehmc9063@aol.com

DONNA B. MCNAMARA, PHD’77Morristown, New Jersey973/285-0744

CHARLES Z. MOORE, BS’59, MA’60Brentwood, Tennesseemooredc@prodigy.net

CATHERINE A. MOUNTCASTLE, BS’79Nashville, Tennesseecbali@aol.com

PAT STANSELL PATTEN, BS’70Nashville, Tennessee615/383-2090

JOEL SUTTON PIZZUTI, BS’94Columbus, Ohiojpizzuti@pizzuti.com

PATRICIA OWEN POWERS, BS’84Nashville, Tennesseeppowers@wallerlaw.com

MARGARET DILL SMITH, PHD’81Bainbridge, Georgiamsmith@catfish.bbc.peachnet.edu

KATY KEEBLE SUDLOW, BS’98Atlanta, Georgiakksudlow@yahoo.com

JULIE JOHNS TAYLOR, BS’95, MED’96New York, New Yorkjulietaylor@mindspring.com

KAREN DANIELS TREADWELL, BS’89Dadeville, Alabamaktreadwell@charter.net

CAROL ROGERS WESTLAKE, BS’79, MED’84Nashville, Tennesseetnstep2@aol.com

JULIE BROWN WILLIAMS, MA’74, EDD’86Whites Creek, Tennessee615/865-5959

LAUREN WILSON YOUNG, BS’97, MED’99Memphis, Tennessee901/685-3685

JANICE BRADY ZIMMERMAN, BS’70, MA’71Nashville, Tennesseejbzimmer@aol.com

If you have questions or suggestionsabout the Alumni Association and itsactivities, please contact the Boardmember in your area.

J U L Y 2 0 0 2

8-Aug. 2 Module 2 for Peabody professional students

9-Aug. 9 Second-Half Summer Session forPeabody undergraduates

A U G U S T

21-24 Squirrel Camp Orientation for registered freshmen

24 Orientation begins for new undergraduate students

28 Fall 2002 classes begin

O C T O B E R

12–13 Freshman Parents’ Weekend; contact the Parents and FamilyOffice, 615/322-3963; www.vanderbilt.edu/families

24 Peabody Alumni Association Boardof Directors dinner, Braeburn (theChancellor’s Residence), 6:30 P.M.;contact Tres Mullis, Peabody Alumniand Development, 615/322-8500;tres.mullis@vanderbilt.edu

25–26 Vanderbilt “extraVUganza” Weekend(a combining of Homecoming andUndergraduate Reunion activities);contact the Office of Alumni Relations, 615/322-2929;reunion@mcmail.vanderbilt.edu;www.vanderbilt.edu/alumni/reunion

25 Fall meeting of the Peabody AlumniAssociation Board of Directors, 223Wyatt Center, begins at 8 A.M.; con-tact Tres Mullis, Peabody Alumni andDevelopment, 615/322-8500;tres.mullis@vanderbilt.edu

26 Homecoming football game againstthe University of Connecticut, DudleyField, 1 P.M. (time subject to change);contact the Office of Alumni Rela-tions, 615/322-2929;reunion@mcmail.vanderbilt.edu;www.vanderbilt.edu/alumni/homecoming

N O V E M B E R

4 Spring semester registration

23-Dec. 1 Thanksgiving holidays

D E C E M B E R

5 Annual “Hanging of the Green” ceremony, Wyatt Center Lobby, 4 P.M.;sponsored by the Peabody StudentAssociation; contact Jennifer Pitts,615/343-6947

10 Last day of fall classes

11-19 Final examinations and reading day

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 3

5 Orientation begins for new freshmen and transfer students

8 Spring 2003 classes begin

20 Martin Luther King Jr. Commemora-tion Lecture and presentation of the“Changing Lives” Award, Wyatt Center Rotunda, 4 P.M. with receptionfollowing; contact Helen Gleason,Peabody Dean’s Office, 615/322-8407; helen.gleason@vanderbilt.edu

23 Annual Maycie K. Southall Lecture,Wyatt Center Rotunda, 4 P.M. withreception following; contact HelenGleason, Peabody Dean’s Office,615/322-8407; helen.gleason@vanderbilt.edu

COMINGATTRACTIONS

Peabody Dean Camilla Benbow, center,visits with Suzan McIntire, staff assistantin the Dean’s Office, and McIntire’sgrandson, Kas, during last fall’s PeabodyFaculty-Staff Kickoff Picnic.

DAVID CRENSHAW

THE PEABODY LIBRARY IS REBORN

Vanderbilt UniversityPeabody College

2201 West End Avenue

Nashville, TN 37203

Nonprofit Org.

U.S. Postage

PAIDNashville, TN

Permit No. 777

PHOTOS BY PEYTON HOGE

The classic beauty ofPeabody’s Library

has been recaptured witha long-overdue faceliftlast summer. Fromattractive, new stained-wood-and-glass entrancedoors to refinished Palla-dium windows that runthe full width of themain floor, the 230,000-volume facility has rede-fined library use withround study tables,couches, and loungechairs enabling studentsto work in groups. Themain floor features freshcoats of sage green paintand contrasting whitecornices and columns,along with a pale blueceiling and white cross-beams. The entry turn-stile has been removed,and a new combined

circulation and referencedesk with contrastinglight birch and cherrystains provides a moreinviting atmosphere.Current periodicals havebeen moved to the mainfloor, along with 12computers for studentuse. The former periodi-cals room on the firstfloor has been convertedto a study area withlarge study carrels andtables. The renovation issomething of a previewof great things to come,as the library is Pea-body’s top facilities pri-ority in Vanderbilt’supcoming capital cam-paign. Future expansionand renovation plans forPeabody’s library will beannounced soon.