coeNEWS University of Georgia
College of Education
Office of Communications & Publications
G9 Aderhold Hall
Athens, GA 30602
706/542-5889 coenews@uga.edu
Elementary education students Jennifer Coats and Angie Fiske have been awarded D. Keith Osborn Scholarships for 2005-2006.
Coats, of Augusta, was awarded the scholarship as the program's Outstanding Senior in early childhood, middle school, and elementary education for 2005-06. Fiske was named the Outstanding Graduate Student of 2005-06. The $500 scholarships come from a fund established by the department to honor a former teaching colleague.
A pioneer in early childhood education, Osborn was a professor of education and child development for 26 years at UGA's College of Education. From 1980 to 1993, he was also graduate coordinator for the department of elementary education. Before coming to UGA, he was one of the first male teachers of young children. He was a faculty member and division chair at the Merrill Palmer Institute from 1952 to 1968.
As a consultant to the U.S. Office of Education in the early 1960s, Osborn served on the committee that planned the Head Start Program and served for a year as assistant director. Later, he was on the planning committee for the Children's Television Workshop, which developed the popular “Sesame Street” program. His service to children continued through his work on the President's Council on Early Childhood Education and the President's Council on Television. The U.S. Commissioner of Education and the director of the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity also relied on his expertise in early childhood.
Osborn received numerous teaching awards at UGA, including the 1987 Josiah Meigs Award, the university's highest teaching honor. In 1988, he was named Georgia Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. He was also a National Silver Medal winner for teaching that same year. The UGA Panhellenic Society presented him with the Outstanding Faculty Award in 1991. The College of Education Faculty Senate Award for Teaching Excellence is now named in his honor.
In 1990, Osborn received the Project Head Start National Award for Outstanding Education as well as the Outstanding Member Award from the Southern Association for Children Under Six.
In a career that spanned more than 40 years, Osborn made more than 600 presentations to professional and non-professional organizations in 49 states and five foreign countries. He authored more than 100 publications that included Discipline and Classroom Management, Cognition in Early Childhood, and Early Childhood Education in Historical Perspective.
The public is invited to honor the memory of D. Keith Osborn through contributions made in his name. Checks should be made payable to:
The UGA Alumni Foundation/D. Keith Osborn Fund (#40-S5850) University of Georgia Department of Elementary Education 427 Aderhold Hall Athens, Ga. 30602-7122
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