In past years, one visiting professor served as the John
W. Porter Distinguished Chair in Urban Education. This
year, four distinguished educators will occupy the seat
at various times this fall and winter.
Donna Ford, professor of special education and the Betts
Chair of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt
University; Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. surgeon general
and distinguished professor of public health at the University
of Arkansas; Gary Orfield, professor of education and social
policy of Harvard's Graduate School of Education, and director
of the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University; and
James Earl Davis, associate professor in the department
of education leadership and policy studies at Temple University,
are this year's chairs.
"The Porter Chairs provide opportunities for our
students and faculty to have an ongoing relationship with
nationally recognized scholars and their research. The
Lecture Series is prestigious and enhances our national
visibility," said Vernon Polite, dean of the College
of Education. "The lectures provided by these scholars
will appear in video stream on the College of Education
Web site and will be easily accessible to untold numbers
of interested faculty and students at EMU, the state and
nation. Additionally, the Porter Chairs provide opportunities
for members of the surrounding community to attend and
benefit from the presentations. We are honored to host
this Lecture Series annually."
The John W. Porter Distinguished Chair in Urban Education
is named in honor of John W. Porter, former EMU president
and state superintendent of public instruction. It is the
first endowed chair in the College of Education. The C.S.
Mott Foundation and the MacGregor Foundation largely funded
the chair. The chair is designed to actively expand the
University's role in urban school districts in Michigan,
with an emphasis on school/community relations.
Instead of naming one scholar for the 2005-06 academic
year, a new structure was configured to provide opportunities
for EMU faculty, students and staff to interact with a
variety of scholars through a "Speaker Series" format.
Each department — leadership and counseling, teacher education
and special education — within the College of Education
(along with the health and physical education programs
within the School of Health Promotion and Human Performance)
nominated and selected a scholar to participate in this
year's Speaker Series, said Jaclynn Tracey, department
head of leadership and counseling who chairs the Porter
Chair selection committee.
"They're (speakers) of such outstanding quality that we
wanted each to have the opportunity to come speak to our
campus on issues of urban education," Tracey said.
Ford will kick off the series with a visit to campus Oct.
27-28. Ford is the Betts Chair of Education and Human Development
at Vanderbilt University.
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Ford |
During her career, Ford has been a professor of special
education at Ohio State University, an associate professor
of educational psychology at the University of Virginia
and a researcher with the National Research Center on the
Gifted and Talented. She also taught at the University
of Kentucky.
Ford conducts research primarily in gifted education and
multicultural/urban education. Specifically, her work focuses
on recruiting and retaining culturally diverse students
in gifted education; multicultural and urban education;
and minority student achievement and underachievement.
Ford's work has been recognized by various professional
organizations, including the Research Award from the Shannon
Center for Advanced Studies; Early Career Award from The
American Educational Research Association; Early Scholar
Award from The National Association for Gifted Children;
and the Esteemed Scholarship Award from The National Association
of Black Psychologists. She has published more than 90
articles.
Ford is a former board member of the National Association
for Gifted Children and has served on numerous editorial
boards, such as Gifted Child Quarterly, Journal of Negro
Education and Roper Review.
Ford received her doctorate of philosophy in urban education;
her master's degree in counseling; and her bachelor's degree
in communication and Spanish, all from Cleveland State
University.
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Elders |
Elders visits campus Nov. 3. A former U.S. surgeon general,
Elders was the first African-American woman to hold the
post.
During the Senate hearings on her confirmation, Elders
said, "I want to change the way we think about health by
putting prevention first. I want to be the voice and vision
of the poor and powerless. I want to change concern about
social problems that affect health into commitment. And
I would like to make every child born in America a wanted
child."
Elders has been active in civic affairs as a member of
the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, Northside YMCA and
Youth Homes. She was listed in "100 Outstanding Women in
Arkansas," "Personalities of the South," and "Distinguished
Women in America." She has won numerous awards, including
the Arkansas Democrat's Woman of the Year, the National
Governors Association's Distinguished Service Award, the
American Medical Association's Dr. Nathan Davis Award and
the National Coalition of 100 Black Women's Candace Award
for Health Science.
Elders received her medical degree from the University
of Arkansas; her master's degree in biochemistry from the
University of Arkansas; and her bachelor's degree in biology
from Philander Smith College.
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Orfield |
Orfield will be on campus Nov. 21-22. He is interested
in the study of civil rights, education policy, urban policy
and minority opportunity. Orfield is co-founder and director
of the Civil Rights Project at Harvard, an initiative that
is developing and publishing a new generation of research
on multiracial civil rights issues.
In addition to his scholarly work, Orfield has been involved
with development of governmental policy. He has participated
as an expert witness in several
dozen civil rights cases, including the University of Michigan
Supreme Court case, which upheld the policy of affirmative
action in 2003. He also gave testimony in civil rights
suits by the United States Department of Justice and many
civil rights, legal services and educational organizations.
In 1997, Orfield was awarded the American Political Science
Association's Charles Merriam Award for "his contribution
to the art of government through the application of social
sciences research."
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Davis |
Orfield received his doctorate from the University of
Chicago.
Davis visits EMU Jan. 26-27, 2006. His areas of
professional interest include gender studies, sociology
of higher education, educational policy, and access and
equity.
Davis received his post-doctorate in education policy
from Princeton University; his doctorate in social policy
and evaluation research from Cornell University; and his
bachelor's degree in sociology from Morehouse College in
Atlanta, Ga.
