[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23644]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 TRIBUTE TO DR. PIYUSH AGRAWAL ON HIS RETIREMENT FROM PUBLIC EDUCATION

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                          HON. CARRIE P. MEEK

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 30, 1999

  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a distinct honor to 
pay tribute to one of America's unsung heroes, Dr. Piyush Agrawal. The 
celebration of his retirement from public education, particularly in 
his role as Superintendent of Piscataway Township Public Schools in 
Piscataway, New Jersey, this Saturday, October 2, 1999, will certainly 
leave a great void in our public school system.
  During the years that I have known Dr. Agrawal as an administrator 
par excellence in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, he truly 
epitomized the preeminence of a caring public servant who genuinely 
exuded the virtues of a gentleman and a scholar. I want to express my 
gratitude for all the efforts and sacrifices he consecrated to the 
thousands of children and their parents, as well as the administrators, 
teachers and paraprofessionals working in our Nation's fourth largest 
school system.
  He has been in the field of education since 1955. His career has 
spanned over four continents from Asia to Europe, to Africa and to 
North America. His broad range of assignments included a stint as a 
United Nations expert on education, and has likewise served as a 
Consultant for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the 
United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization 
(UNESCO), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the new American 
Schools Development Corporation (MASDC) and the American Association of 
School Administrators (AASA). He has also served on several prestigious 
national task forces and panels such as the Presidential Awards for 
Excellence in Science and Mathematics, the Florida Speaker's Task Force 
on Mathematics, Science and Computer Education, and the National 
Council of Supervisors of Mathematics.
  Many of his colleagues admire him for his leadership in ensuring 
equality of opportunity in our schools. At the same time, his forceful 
advocacy in adhering to the tenets of equal treatment under the law for 
all has been unequivocal not only in the halls of academia, but also in 
every government agency geared toward the responsible and productive 
well-being of our children. In fact, countless others have been touched 
by his untiring commitment to this agenda.
  Dr. Agrawal is the consummate educational activist who abides by the 
dictum that those children who have less in life through no fault of 
their own should be helped at all costs in their quest for mastery of 
the basic skills and academic achievement. He has not faltered one iota 
in his belief that all children can learn and can succeed, given the 
appropriate affective and cognitive assistance from their parents and 
teachers. The numerous accolades with which he has been honored by 
various state and national organizations succinctly represent a genuine 
testimony of the utmost respect he enjoys from the academic community.
  Blessed by a down-to-earth common sense, he is also imbued with the 
uncommon wisdom of subtly recognizing the strengths and limitations of 
those who have been empowered to govern over the well-being of others. 
It is this quality that endears him to many of his colleagues. And it 
is this superlative rapport that buttresses his leadership over several 
civic and social organizations, which have so wisely depended upon his 
vision and commitment.
  Presently, he serves as Vice-President of the National Advisory 
Council for South Asian Affairs, a public interest foreign policy group 
recognized by the U.S. State Department. In 1994 he was appointed by 
the then Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown to the U.S. 2000 Census 
Advisory Committee on the Asian and Pacific Islander Populations for a 
three-year term. In 1997, he was reappointed to another three-year term 
by current Secretary of Commerce William M. Daley.
  He thoroughly understands the accou- terments of power and 
leadership. And he is wont to exercise this knowledge alongside the 
mandate of his convictions and the wisdom of his conscience, sagely 
focusing their elements upon the good of the community he has learned 
to love and care for so deeply. His word is his bond to those he deals 
with--not only in his moments of triumphal exuberance, but also in his 
quest to help transform our communities into the veritable mosaic of 
vibrant cultures and diverse people converging into the great promise 
and optimism that is America.
  Dr. Piyush Agrawal truly exemplifies this unique leadership whose 
courageous vision and firm belief appeal to our noble character as a 
nation. At the risk of being presumptuous, I want to extend to him the 
gratitude of our community. I sincerely bid him good luck on his well-
deserved retirement and wish him Godspeed in all his endeavors. He will 
certainly be missed.

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