National Advisory Board

Sharon Lynn Kagan, Ed.D.

Dr. Kagan is the Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Early Childhood and Family Policy, Co-Director of the National Center for Children and Families, and Associate Dean for Policy at Teachers College, Columbia University, and Professor Adjunct at Yale University's Child Study Center.

Sharon has helped shape early childhood practice and policies in the United States and in countries throughout the world. Author of more than 200 articles and 12 books, her research focuses on the institutions that impact child and family life. She consults with numerous international, federal, and state agencies, congress, governors, and legislatures, is a member of 40 national boards and panels, and is Past President of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and Family Support America.

Sharon is currently working around the globe with UNICEF to establish early learning standards in Armenia, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Ghana, Jordan, Mongolia, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. She is the only woman in the history of american education to receive its three most prestigious awards: the 2004 Distinguished Service Award from the Council of Chief State School Officers, the 2005 James Bryant Conant Award for Lifetime Service to Education from the Education Commission of the States, and the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education. Sharon received her Ed.D. in Curriculum and Teaching from Columbia University's Teachers College.