Bio
Barbara T. Bowman - Professor Barbara Bowman is one of three faculty founders of Erikson Institute and served as president of the institute from 1994 to 2001. She is an authority on early education, a national advocate for improved and expanded training for practitioners who teach and care for young children, and a pioneer in building knowledge and understanding of the issues of access and equity for minority children. She is also the chief early childhood education officer for the Chicago Public Schools.
Cornelia Grumman - Before joining the First Five Years Fund, Cornelia Grumman served on the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune, where she wrote primarily about education, juvenile justice, Illinois politics and the death penalty. Ms. Grumman has received numerous awards for her work, including the 2001, 2005 and 2006 Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism for editorials on children and family issues, a 2001 Studs Terkel award for coverage of disadvantaged communities and three Herman Kogan awards for editorials about the criminal justice system. She also won a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for her series of editorials calling for death-penalty reform.
Samuel J. Meisels - Dr. Meisels has served as president of Erikson Institute since 2002.
He came to Erikson after 21 years at the University of Michigan, where he is now professor and research scientist emeritus. Previously, he was a faculty member in the Department of Child Study and director of the Eliot-Pearson Children's School at Tufts. A former preschool, kindergarten, and first-grade teacher, he also served as senior advisor in early childhood development for the Developmental Evaluation Clinic of Boston's Children's Hospital. He holds a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
One of the nation's leading authorities on the assessment of young children, Dr. Meisels has published over 200 articles, books, and monographs, and is co-author of the Work Sampling System, the Early Screening Inventory Revised, The Ounce Scale and The Handbook of Early Childhood Intervention.
Harriet Meyer - Ms. Meyer has been the President of the Ounce of Prevention Fund since 1991. She is widely recognized for her work shaping public policies and creating innovative programs that help young, at-risk children and their families. Harriet co-chairs the Illinois Early Learning Council, the first coordinating council for young children to be housed in an Illinois Governor's office. On the national level, Harriet served on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee that created our country's Early Head Start program.
