1/14/98

CONTACT: Becky Wiseman, School of Education, (650) 723-2119
e-mail wiseman2@stanford.edu

Elaine C. Ray, News Service (650) 723-7162;
e-mail elaineray@stanford.edu

Dr. James Comer to speak at School of Education

The School of Education will sponsor a conversation with Dr. James Comer at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 22, in Room 112 of the CERAS Building. Comer, the Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine's Child Study Center, is best known as the founder of the Comer School Development Program. That 30-year-old model promotes collaboration between parents, educators and their communities and has been used to improve the social, emotional and academic development of students in more than 600 schools across the country.

Comer is the author of six books, including his most recent, Waiting for a Miracle, published in 1997. He also is the author of Rallying the Whole Village, published in 1996; Maggie's American Dream: The Life and Times of a Black Family, in 1988; and Beyond Black and White, in 1972. He has written numerous articles on child health and development for Parents magazine and other publications. Among the numerous awards and honors he has received during his career is the 1996 Heinz Award in the Human Condition.

A native of East Chicago, Ind., Comer received a bachelor's degree from Indiana University and his M.D. from Howard University. He also holds a master's degree in public health from the University of Michigan. He has served on the faculty at Yale since 1968.

The title of Comer's discussion is Education: Beyond Parents, Teachers and Children. He will be interviewed by John Merrow, host of The Merrow Report, a PBS documentary series about children and education. A book signing and reception will follow their conversation.

-30-

By Elaine Ray