Research News!
EDCI Associate Professor Patricia Campbell honored
with Hay Award
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The Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) presented the Twenty-First Annual Louise Hay Award to Patricia Campbell, associate professor of mathematics education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Maryland, at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in New Orleans, LA. Established in 1991, the Hay Award recognizes outstanding achievements in any area of mathematics education. Louise Hay was widely recognized for her contributions to mathematical logic, for her strong leadership as Head of the Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago, for her devotion to students, and for her lifelong commitment to nurturing the talent of young women and men. The annual presentation of this award is intended to highlight the importance of mathematics education and to evoke the memory of all that Hay exemplified as a teacher, scholar, administrator, and human being.
During her career, Dr. Campbell had challenged those around her to advocate the advancement of mathematics teaching. Campbell is known as a leader in the mathematics community for her teaching in urban neighborhoods and working in schools that serve predominately minority populations from low-income backgrounds.
Dr. Campbell has worked on two large projects over the past two decades to improve student learning. From 1989 to 1997, she led Project IMPACT, a professional development effort that demonstrated the feasibility of school-wide mathematics reform, supplementing summer professional development with in-school mathematics specialists in order to increase achievement in schools with predominately minority populations. In 1996, after hearing of Campbell’s work, Dr. Andrea Bowden, Supervisor of Science, Mathematics and Health Education for the Baltimore City School System, invited Dr. Campbell to collaborate in developing the MARS Project. This systemic effort addressed a complex set of problems facing Baltimore's public schools, targeting poor student achievement through system-wide teacher development in mathematics. With Dr. Campbell as the Principal Investigator, the MARS Project was awarded a five million dollar grant through the NSF Local Systemic Initiative program.
In her letter of support for Dr. Campbell’s nomination for the Louise Hay award, Dr. Bowden wrote, “It is difficult to capture the magnitude and to do justice to Dr. Campbell’s incredible devotion of time, energy, expertise, and commitment.”
Through Dr. Campbell’s current research, she continues to pursue her efforts to ensure quality education for all children. Her current work in the area of mathematics leadership at the elementary level builds on her prior efforts and her evaluation of the work and role of elementary mathematics specialists will contribute significantly to the research in this area.
Dr. Campbell’s service to the public has not diminished her service to the university. She is a highly respected member of her Department, the College of Education, and the University. Dr. Campbell has gained the appreciation of her students and colleagues for her commitment, skill and energy for the cause of mathematics education and for challenging them to think more deeply about the tough issues they must confront.
The AWM is pleased to honor Patricia Campbell for her career achievements – as a teacher, researcher, and in service to the mathematics education community – in furthering the cause of mathematics education on behalf of all elementary school students.
The 2011 Joint Mathematics Meetings was held January 6-9 in New Orleans, LA. For further information on the Hay Award including past winners and the complete prize citation honoring Patricia Campbell, please visit http://www.awm-math.org.
To read about some of Dr. Campbell’s current research projects, please visit the College’s Research Spotlight: http://education.umd.edu/ResearchInfo/Faculty/FacultySplight/index.html