Dr. Feland Meadows new Goizueta Foundation Endowed Chair

Thanks to a $1 million grant from The Goizueta Foundation‚ Dr. Feland L. Meadows has been appointed The Goizueta Foundation Chair in Early Childhood Education in the Bagwell College of Education.

Georgia (Dec 6, 2004) — Thanks to a $1 million grant from The Goizueta Foundation‚ Dr. Feland L. Meadows has been appointed The Goizueta Foundation Chair in Early Childhood Education in the Bagwell College of Education. This endowed chair enables Kennesaw State University to become the first institution in Georgia to develop certificate and bachelor’s degree programs that will prepare teachers to serve children under five years old.

As The Goizueta Foundation Chair‚ Meadows is responsible for developing a Regional Institute of Early Childhood Education at KSU. “Our universities do not now prepare teachers to work with young children. My first goal‚” says Meadows‚ “is to raise the money to construct and equip a state−of−the−art lab school building that will house the KSU Early Childhood Education Institute‚ where teachers can learn to work with children from birth to 5 years of age.”

The institute will feature an active child development center that will also serve as the model in a certificate program for directors of childcare centers. With legislators recognizing that efforts to improve secondary education are limited if students are underdeveloped before they enter a classroom‚ current state standards for preschool education are coming under scrutiny.

Meadows’ background includes the credentials to handle the fundraising and curriculum development requirements of the position‚ as well as experience working with young children. “When I saw the position announcement I said‚ ‘That’s my resume.’ It was providential‚” Meadows says.

Born in Puebla‚ Mexico‚ Meadows has served as the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Education at Fort Valley State University. The past year‚ before joining the Bagwell College‚ Meadows was on sabbatical‚ working with teaching centers throughout the United States and abroad. Meadows also helped develop three public Montessori Schools in the DeKalb County School System‚ preparing the educators who teach more than 500 pre−k to 6th−grade students.

“Dr. Meadows brings to this position an outstanding track record of teaching‚ service‚ scholarship and grantsmanship‚” says Dr. Yiping Wan‚ dean of the Bagwell College of Education. “We are very excited to have him in this leadership role.”

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 41,000 students. With 11 colleges on two metro Atlanta campuses, Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia and the second-largest university in the state. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the region and from 126 countries across the globe. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 6 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.