Simmons Luminary Awards Honor Bold Education Leaders

DALLAS (SMU) – The Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development at SMU honored three outstanding education leaders with its first annual Simmons Luminary Awards – former U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, longtime Texas State Board of Education member Geraldine “Tincy” Miller and St. Philip’s School headmaster Dr. Terry J. Flowers. All three received their awards at a reception and dinner on the SMU campus Thursday, Nov. 19.

Hear Margaret Spellings's interview on KERA's Think with Krys Boyd. (mp3)

“The Simmons Luminary Awards honor women and men who are real education reformers – people willing to step outside the status quo and follow evidence, rather than tradition, to improve outcomes for our students, “ said David Chard, Leon Simmons Dean of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School.  “This year’s three recipients serve as beacons on the education landscape.”

“People are frequently satisfied with great ideas,” Chard said. “But ideas aren’t enough. What we don’t often have are people like Terry Flowers, with 25 years of proven results; Tincy Miller, who realized that her focus on her son’s dyslexia needed to be expanded to all dyslexic children; and Margaret Spellings, who had the opportunity and the courage to move an accountability system from concept to national priority.”

All three Luminary Award winners have demonstrated a willingness to make bold changes in policy and practice to improve students’ lives, Chard said.

Flowers is headmaster and executive director of St. Philip’s School and Community Center in south Dallas.  Under his leadership, St. Philip’s has developed a curriculum that emphasizes academic excellence and a positive self-image in a community that struggles with poverty and low graduation rates. St. Philip’s records a 97 percent high school graduation rate and an 88 percent college attendance rate for alumni of the school’s Pre-K through 6th grade program.

Miller, who graduated from SMU in 1956, has served on the Texas State Board of Education since 1984.  She has distinguished herself by promoting better curricula and programs for dyslexic children, helping to pass the Texas State Dyslexia Law for public schools, facilitating the creation of the Dyslexia Handbook: Procedures Concerning Dyslexia and Related Disorders and helping establish the first statewide dyslexia academies.

Spellings is president and CEO of Margaret Spellings and Company, and a leading expert in national public policy.  Spellings was U.S. Secretary of Education from 2005-2009, the first mother of school-age children to serve in that position.  She directed the implementation of the “No Child Left Behind Act,” which commits U.S. schools to bringing all students up to grade level or better in reading and math.

The Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development at SMU helps current and future teachers, counselors, therapists and the community harness the power of education through degree offerings, human development programs, continuing studies courses and faculty research on education-related topics. A gift from Harold C. Simmons and Annette Caldwell Simmons ’57 established the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development to provide endowment and crucial support for programs that address critical needs and opportunities in education.
 
The school offers master’s and Ph.D. programs in education, counseling, dispute resolution and liberal studies; an undergraduate degree in applied physiology and sports management; a minor in education; and noncredit programs for the continuing educational benefit of the wider community. The Dyslexia Diagnostic Center, Mediation Services, the Center for Child and Community Development, the Institute for Reading Research, the Gifted Students Institute, the Center for Academic Progress and Success, and Center for Family Counseling extend the school’s expertise into the community.

A private university located in the heart of Dallas, SMU is building on the vision of its founders, who imagined a distinguished center for learning emerging from the spirit of the city.  Today, nearly 11,000 students benefit from the national opportunities and international reach afforded by the quality of SMU’s seven degree-granting schools.

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