[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 103 (Monday, June 14, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        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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