At the 2023 Spring Assembly, CEHD saluted those faculty and staff members who are leaving us. We thank them for their service and wish them well in the next chapter of their lives.
Karen Anderson retired in October 2022 as project and program specialist in the Center for Early Education and Development (CEED) in the Institute of Child Development, where she provided administrative and technical support that touched all aspects of CEED’s work. Karen was instrumental in assuring a smooth technology experience for instructors and students participating in the professional development opportunities presented by CEED. If you’ve “liked” a post from CEED on social media, chances are it was Karen’s handiwork. If you’ve visited CEED’s website, it was Karen who made it function smoothly for users, with a special focus on accessibility. Over the past 28 years, whenever you’ve connected with CEED, you’ve connected with Karen! Recalling her career at the University, Karen shared, “The thing I’ll miss the most about CEED is the exceptional group of people comprising CEED’s efforts and the feeling of ‘belonging.’ They allowed me to feel part of this community for all these years, and the opportunity to learn new skills and grow in relationship with others was immeasurable. I will always remember my time with CEED and the University with great fondness and gratitude.”
Julie Bishop-Hogan had been with the University of Minnesota since October 2000. She served as the full-time receptionist and face of the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development before taking on the large task of scheduling for the whole department. Julie was instrumental in keeping things flowing with scheduling, textbook orders, and student feedback forms. She was always kind and caring to those around her and was always able to make work feel less like work through her positive working relationships with her colleagues. In retirement Julie has been able to spend more time with her spouse.
Carol Carrier was a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction before serving the University as Vice President of Human Resources. In 2018, she started in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (OLPD) with a split appointment of professor in its higher education program and as special assistant in the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost. During her time in OLPD, Carol played significant leadership roles in co-leading the process to review and revise the department tenure and promotion statements. With her OLPD colleague, and also former Vice President of Human Resources Kathy Brown, Carol designed and launched a new online training program during the challenging COVID period, aimed at helping OLPD faculty consider and apply for leadership positions at the OLPD, CEHD, and University levels. In addition, she developed and executed a rigorous peer-review processes for teaching observation for post-doc colleagues to provide feedback for both their career development and tenure and promotion cases. She also advised several graduate students and was an active member of the higher education program faculty. In retirement, she and her husband have plans for long walks and time spent in nature at their property in Afton.
Dante Cicchetti, the McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair of Child Psychology and Psychiatry in the Institute of Child Development, is one of the founders of the field of developmental psychopathology. This field revolutionized child psychiatry through understanding that the roots and pathways to psychological problems had to be understood through a developmental lens and not by treating children through a downward extension of adult pathology. Dante has shaped the field through his own research, which has been prodigious and seminal, and through founding and serving as editor of the main journal in the field, Development and Psychopathology, and through publishing four editions of the field’s standard reference work, Developmental Psychopathology, which is now a four-volume set. He has published over 500 articles and is the recipient of almost every major honor in the field of developmental psychology. Dante’s lifetime achievement awards include the G. Stanley Hall Award from the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, and the William James Fellow Award from the Association for Psychological Science, among many others. In 2015, Dante was inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
MJ Gilbert was a practicum coordinator in the School of Social Work. She graduated from our MSW program in 1990, following a career as a Jewish educator and youth worker. She practiced for 16 years as a direct social work practitioner and supervisor at Mental Health Resources, serving adults in the community living with serious mental illness, before joining the school of social work in 2004 as a field coordinator. In 2013, she became the director of field education for the MSW program, a role she continued until September 2022, when she reduced to half time to concentrate on serving MSW students in practica, the work that was always closest to her heart. MJ was one of the first out trans social workers in the Twin Cities, and one of the first out trans social work educators in the country. While at the U, she served as co-chair for what at the time known as the U of M Trans Commission. During her time in that role, the U expanded its non-discrimination statement to include gender identity and presentation.
Frances Lawrenz will retire as Associate Vice President for Research at the University and Professor in Quantitative Methods in Education in the Department of Educational Psychology this May after 37 years at the U. In her academic work, she specializes in science and mathematics program evaluation. She uses a variety of techniques to best fit the needs of a given situation, including mixing methods in a variety of ways. She has been involved in the evaluation of several national science and mathematics programs. She has published well over 100 research papers and over 200 evaluation reports in addition to other scholarly work. She has held departmental and college leadership positions and is an award-winning researcher, teacher, and leader. Her distinguished work has earned her the Research on Evaluation SIG Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Educational Research Association, the National Association for Research in Science Teaching Distinguished Contributions to Science Education through Research Award, and an appointment to the University of Minnesota Academy of Distinguished Teachers. She is looking forward to spending her retirement time with her family and new grandson.
Department of Educational Psychology Professor Geoffrey Maruyama will retire in August 2023 after 47 years at the University. As a professor in the psychological foundations of education, his primary research has focused on achievement processes in schools. He has written three books, Basics of Structural Equation Modeling, Research in Educational Settings with Stanley Deno, and, most recently, Research Methods in Social Relations, with Carey Ryan. He has been PI or co-PI on eight federal grants, as well as having a co-I role on several other federal grants. The most recent was a $2.8 million grant to study community engagement of college students from backgrounds under-represented in post-secondary education. Geoffrey has held administrative roles as the Chair of the Department of Educational Psychology, Director of the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Assistant/Associate Vice President for Multicultural and Academic Affairs, and Associate Vice President for System Academic Administration. He is a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychological Society. In retirement, he looks forward to continuing golfing, yoga, traveling, and spending time with grandkids and other family members.
Maria Sera retired from the Institute of Child Development (ICD) in December following 33 years in CEHD. Maria joined ICD as an assistant professor in 1989 and quickly established herself as a leading scholar in research on language and cognitive development. She was awarded a McKnight Land-Grant Professorship in 1992 and continued to rise through the ranks to associate and full professor. Throughout her career, Maria examined how specific characteristics of the language or languages that we use can impact the way we think about and understand the world around us. For example, she conducted work showing that differences in grammar across languages are associated with differences in spatial cognition and categorization. In addition, Maria made significant contributions to the literature on second-language learning and bilingualism and was awarded the University’s Faculty Multi-Cultural Research Award in 2006. She was a passionate champion of students. She served as ICD’s Director of Undergraduate Studies from 2014-2017 and actively mentored both graduate and undergraduate students in research throughout her career. She has left an indelible mark on her department and the field of language development.
Joyce Serido is a professor and extension specialist in the department of Family Social Science. She has made a lasting impact on families in Minnesota and beyond since joining CEHD in 2014. She was the Primary Investigator of the first-ever multidisciplinary initiative to study the association between early adult financial behaviors and adult life success. Joyce also has created multiple programs to teach college undergraduates, emerging adults, and families strategies for improving financial decision-making skills, including efforts to reach diverse communities of learners from low income, immigrant, American Indian, and rural populations. Her research has been published extensively in journals and featured in media, and her work has also been used to inform policy conversations related to families and finances at the national level, including efforts with the Federal Reserve, Department of Defense, and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Her research on understanding how families communicate about finances along with her outreach efforts to educate communities on family financial behavior have improved the economic well-being of families in Minnesota and across the nation.
Terri Vandercook is retiring as assistant director of the TIES Center in the Institute on Community Integration (ICI). Terri was a special education teacher in the 1980s and saw students with significant cognitive disabilities attending separate schools or separate classrooms within neighborhood schools. Watching these students languish amid low expectations spurred her to earn a PhD in educational psychology from the U of M. She worked at ICI in its early years and co-directed the “Together Were Better: Inclusive School Communities in Minnesota – Partnerships for Systems Change” project, as well as many other grants and projects focused on special education. Terri left ICI to be a faculty member at the University of St. Thomas and later chair of its special education department. In 2018 she returned to ICI and was assistant director of the TIES Center. TIES provides technical assistance to states, districts and schools to support the movement of students with significant cognitive disabilities from less inclusive to more inclusive environments. At TIES, her leadership and understanding of creating inclusive communities was integral to supporting educational systems change.
Professor Michael Wade served the School of Kinesiology for nearly 37 years. He joined in 1986 as director for what was known then as the School of Physical Education and Recreation. During his 20 years as director, Michael saw the school through a name change to the “School of Kinesiology and Leisure Studies” in 1991, which established two primary divisions: “Kinesiology” and “Recreation, Park, and Leisure Studies.” In 2003, he worked to consolidate the school’s efforts under one name, the “School of Kinesiology,” with the goal of creating more grant opportunities. Recognized by former U President Robert Bruininks for his fine efforts, Michael helped promote the research of faculty and bring positive attention to the University. In 2005, he returned to the classroom full-time. Throughout this next chapter in his career, he became one of the most beloved educators in their school. Michael’s students appreciated his experience and his expertise, summed up nicely by a student in his final semester: “Excellent expertise paired with impeccable articulation, a pinch of theater, a dash of humor, and a heap of professionalism made Professor Wade unforgettable.”
