The publication is reproduced in full below:
CELEBRATING PROFESSOR EDMUND W. GORDON'S 100TH BIRTHDAY
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HON. STEVEN HORSFORD
of nevada
in the house of representatives
Monday, June 14, 2021
Mr. HORSFORD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life and legacy of Professor Edmund W. Gordon, who was born on June 13, 1921. Professor Gordon is an extraordinary professor of psychology whose career work has heavily influenced contemporary thinking in psychology, education, and social policy. Professor Gordon's research and initiatives have focused on the positive development of under-served children of color, including advancing the concept of the ``achievement gap.''
Professor Gordon grew up in a highly segregated area of North Carolina to parents who encouraged the importance of schooling. He received both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Howard University, and went on to pursue a PhD in psychology at the Teacher's College at Columbia University.
In 1956, after working with mentor and friend W.E.B. DuBois, Professor Gordon was commissioned by President Lyndon B. Johnson to help design the Head Start Program, aimed at providing early childhood education and family services to under-resourced families. After six months working on Head Start, Professor Gordon and his team had built a program to serve nearly half a million children. Professor Gordon also conducted research that would later be used to prove to the Supreme Court that school segregation had harmful effects on children. Professor Gordon strongly advocated the importance of understanding the learner's frame of reference in the development of education action plans.
Professor Gordon is the John M. Musser Professor of Psychology, Emeritus at Yale University, Richard March Hoe Professor, Emeritus of Psychology and Education and Founding Director of The Edmund W. Gordon Institute of Urban and Minority Education (IUME) at Teachers College, Columbia University.
From July 2000 until August 2001, Professor Gordon was Vice President of Academic Affairs and Interim Dean at Teachers College, Columbia University. Professor Gordon has held appointments at several of the nation's leading universities including Howard, Yeshiva, Columbia, City University of New York, Yale, and the Educational Testing Service. He has served as visiting professor at City College of New York and Harvard.
Currently, Professor Gordon is the Senior Scholar and Advisor to the President of the College Board where he developed and co-chaired the Taskforce on Minority High Achievement.
As a clinician and researcher, Professor Gordon explored divergent learning styles and advocated for supplemental education long before most scholars had recognized the existence and importance of those ideas. From 2011 to 2013, Professor Gordon organized and mentored the Gordon Commission, bringing together scholars to research and report on the Future of Assessment for Education.
Professor Gordon has authored 18 books and more than 200 articles on the achievement gap, affirmative development of academic ability, and supplementary education. He has been elected a Fellow of many prestigious organizations, including the American Academy of Arts & Science, and has been named one of America's most prolific and thoughtful scholars.
Today, Professor Gordon still pays close attention to the state of education, and has stated that he would love to be able to change national education policy ``to get a more equal focus on out-of-school and in-school learning.''
On April 12, 2021, Professor Gordon was appointed as the first ever Honorary President of the American Educational Research Association.
I wish Professor Edmund W. Gordon the very best as he and his family celebrate his 100th birthday.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 103
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