Erikson Institute co-founder, early childhood schooling advocate Barbara Taylor Bowman dies at 96

CHICAGO — Barbara Taylor Bowman, an early childhood schooling advocate and co-founder of Erikson Institute, has died at 96.

Bowman, who was born on Chicago’s South Facet in 1928, died on Monday, Nov. 4.

Bowman’s prolific profession in schooling started in 1950 after she graduated from Sarah Lawrence Faculty and have become a preschool trainer. She would go on to earn her grasp’s diploma in schooling from the College of Chicago in 1952.

4 years later, in November of 1956, Bowman and her husband, Dr. James E. Bowman, welcomed a daughter.

Their daughter, Valerie Jarrett, was a Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs in the course of the Obama administration.

Bowman’s dedication to schooling continued and in 1966, after recognizing a rising want for specialised coaching for academics of kids from under-resourced communities, she co-founded the Erikson Institute alongside little one psychologist Maria Piers, social employee Lorraine Wallach and businessman Irving Harris.

The founders created the institute with the imaginative and prescient that it will present educators with the talents and information to offer all youngsters an equal alternative to succeed.

Following the founding of the institute, Bowman grew to become an internationally famend knowledgeable in early childhood improvement.

“Barbara Taylor Bowman was a real visionary,” Erikson President Mariana Souto-Manning said in a statement. “Her legacy is considered one of transformation, not solely of Erikson however of all the early childhood schooling panorama. She didn’t simply form an establishment—she helped form the very basis of the sphere. Barbara’s dedication to justice, fairness, and the well-being of all youngsters will proceed to animate our mission, encourage our work, and information the sphere for generations to return.”

Bowman later served as president at Erikson from 1994 to 2001 and her legacy continues to carry robust. The lengthy custom of handing a yellow rose to every Erikson graduate was began by Bowman throughout commencement ceremonies held in her personal backyard.

In 2017, WGN-TV profiled Bowman as considered one of Chicago’s Very Own.

For almost a decade Bowman labored hand-in-hand with former Secretary of Training Arne Duncan in D.C. whereas she concurrently ran the workplace of early childhood schooling for CPS.

Bowman, who additionally served as a marketing consultant to the U.S. Secretary of Training beneath President Barack Obama, continued to show graduate programs and serve on quite a few committees and boards till her demise.