Nationally Respected Scientist Named Director of The Learning Corridor’s Resource Center

HARTFORD, Conn., Aug. 19 – The nationwide search for the first director of the interdistrict high school Science, Mathematics, and Technology Resource Center at The Learning Corridor has resulted in the selection of an award-winning research scientist and college professor from Wisconsin.

The appointment of Dr. Jeffrey L. Osborn, an associate professor of physiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and the founder and director of the Medical College of Wisconsin's Center for Science Education, was approved Wednesday by the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC), which will manage the school.

CREC’s Council made the appointment on behalf of the Center’s charter member districts, whose students will attend the school. Those districts are: Bloomfield, Farmington, Glastonbury, Hartford, Manchester, New Britain, Newington, Rocky Hill, Simsbury, Southington, Wethersfield, and Windsor.

Osborn was selected following an eleven-month nationwide search in which a field of more than 120 candidates were considered.

The Learning Corridor is a 16-acre educational campus now under construction across the street from Trinity College. The Learning Corridor is the centerpiece of a $175-million revitalization effort in Hartford being led by Trinity and its partners in the Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance (SINA). When completed in the summer of 2000, The Learning Corridor will be home to the Interdistrict Montessori Magnet elementary school; a Hartford public middle school, and the Science, Mathematics, and Technology Resource Center. CREC’s Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts also will relocate to The Learning Corridor.

Osborn begins his new duties on Oct. 1. Timothy Nee was appointed last month by CREC as the director of the Interdistrict Montessori Magnet School. Mitzi Yates will continue as Director of the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts.

Over the past three years CREC, Trinity, Hartford-area superintendents and teachers, and local businesses and industries have been developing the program for the Science, Mathematics and Technology Resource Center. The center will serve students from the Greater Hartford area in grades 9 through 12 who are academically motivated toward science and mathematics. The center is conducting a pilot program during the 1999-2000 academic year on the Trinity campus.

"We are thrilled to have someone with such an impressive background as Jeffrey Osborn accept the position as the director of our new Center," said Marcia B. Yulo, executive director of CREC. "He is well qualified to help us build a quality program that will draw students from around the region."

"I look forward to collaborating with Dr. Osborn and drawing upon his expertise to make the Science, Mathematics, and Technology Resource Center a place where young people will find learning both exciting and engaging," said Eddie Perez, executive director of SINA, which has been overseeing construction of The Learning Corridor and other neighborhood renewal efforts.

Osborn will work closely with area superintendents, Trinity College, and Hartford Hospital, as well as local businesses and industry. In addition to serving as director of the Science, Mathematics, and Technology Resource Center, Osborn will be a research professor of biology and neuroscience at Trinity. In this capacity, he will continue his research on hypertension, the kidney and cardiovascular disease.

"As a distinguished biologist, Osborn will be bringing his externally funded research to the College and that should be of great advantage to Trinity’s faculty and students," according to Trinity President Evan S. Dobelle.

"This is an exciting time for education in the Greater Hartford area and for local families and their children as we draw nearer to realizing a shared dream for The Learning Corridor," said Dobelle. "Dr. Osborn’s appointment will ensure the continuing collaboration between CREC, The Learning Corridor and Trinity, and will enable each institution to draw the resources and expertise of each other toward the long-term benefit of the community."

Osborn graduated from Amherst College with a B.A. in biology. He then attended Michigan State University where he received both a master’s degree and doctorate in physiology. In 1979, he was awarded a national research service award by the Cardiovascular Training Center at the University of Iowa. In 1987 he was named an Established Investigator of the American Heart Association. In 1994, he was presented the President’s Award for Distinction in Research by the American Heart Association of Wisconsin.

Assisting in the search for the Center’s director was Charles Eilber, the founding director of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. Eilber has been consulting with CREC and Trinity for the past three years and has been instrumental in the design and development of the Center’s program and curriculum.

"The development of the Learning Corridor is precisely the commitment we must make to provide innovative educational opportunities for urban children," Dr. Osborn said. "I am excited to join the Hartford community in creating a new generation of scientists who will lead America into the new technological age of the 21^st century."

In addition to Osborn, two teachers have been hired for the Center. They are Howard Thiery and Antonella Bona-Gallo. Thiery, who most recently taught biology, anatomy, and physiology at Manchester High School, has been involved in the development of the curriculum and programs at The Learning Corridor for the past two years. Bona-Gallo, who most recently taught at Windham High School, is a finalist for the 1999 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science.