People

Telecommunication veteran to support employee development

David Sprouse has joined the Office of Employee Learning and Development as an instructional designer and learning analyst. He will develop innovative learning practices and support employee training.

Sprouse is scheduled in December to receive his master's degree in e-learning design and implementation from the University of Colorado Denver. His previous career in telecommunication included key roles in technology, training and programming.

Shepard

Shepard wraps successful stint as National Academy of Education president

Lorrie Shepard, dean of the School of Education at the University of Colorado at Boulder, just concluded a prestigious appointment as president of the National Academy of Education (NAEd). She delivered the last speech of her term on Friday, Oct. 23, at the academy in Washington, D.C.

Shepard received praise from the academy's incoming president, Susan H. Fuhrman, president of Teachers College at Columbia University.

"With her deep understanding of educational research and policy issues, Lorrie Shepard has brought outstanding strategic leadership to NAEd," Fuhrman said. "She has transformed the organization, greatly expanding its scope and influence. It has been a privilege to serve with her and to learn from example."

Research by Shepard, professor of research and evaluation methodology, focuses on psychometrics and the use and misuse of tests in education settings. Her studies have addressed the identification of learning disabilities, readiness screening for kindergarten, grade retention, teacher testing and effects of high-stakes accountability testing on teaching and learning.

Photo by Glenn Asakawa/University of Colorado

Cech

Nobel Prize-winner Cech returns to the classroom in Boulder

Nobel Laureate Thomas Cech recently returned to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he's teaching a chemistry class for first-year students. Cech became the university's first Nobel Prize winner in 1989, sharing the prize in chemistry with Sidney Altman of Yale University for their independent discoveries that RNA can act as a catalyst in cell development.

For the past decade, Cech served as president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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