NAGC Congratulates Dr. Ann Robinson, 2023 NAGC Ann F. Isaacs Founder’s Memorial Award Recipient

The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) is pleased to announce that Dr. Ann Robinson will receive the 2023 NAGC Ann F. Isaacs Founder’s Memorial Award for her distinguished service to NAGC and gifted education.

Robinson serves as a Distinguished Professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and is the Founding Director of the Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education. She specializes in developing talents within the school setting, evidence-based practices in gifted education, and biography as research and curricular intervention.

Dedicating over 20 years of service to the NAGC Board of Directors, she served as the Association’s president from 2009-11. In addition to her commitment to the board, Robinson was editor of NAGC’s peer-reviewed journal, Gifted Child Quarterly, and served on several networks and committees over the years, including her recently concluded term as Chair of the Leadership Development Committee. Previously, Robinson was recognized by NAGC in 2012 with the Distinguished Scholar Award, in 2006 with the Distinguished Service Award, the Early Leader Award in 1990, and the Early Scholar Award in 1986.

In addition to the Mahony Center for Gifted Education, she founded the Arkansas Advanced Placement Teacher Professional Development Institute and currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Gifted Education Research and Resource Institute at Purdue University. Over the course of her academic career, she has secured more than $30 million in external funding for research and service, including five federal Javits grants for demonstration projects in curriculum, instruction, and evaluation focused on talented children from low-income households.

“I grew up in NAGC—first attending as a doctoral student — so finding myself with the Ann Fabe Isaacs Founders Award is truly, truly humbling,” remarked Robinson upon being named the award’s recipient. “Previous awardees were giants in the field; Mary Frasier, the first recipient, was someone under whose presidency I served on the NAGC Board, and the second recipient was my own Purdue mentor, John Feldhusen. Being honored among such a pantheon of Isaacs Award recipients is still not quite real.” She continued, “Thinking we were connecting over other NAGC tasks, Shelagh Gallagher delivered the news on Zoom. I’m pretty sure my jaw literally dropped, and all composure was gone, but you’d have to ask Shelagh to corroborate that!”

“Ann is a natural recipient of the Founders Award as NAGC enters its 70th year. Her contributions to NAGC are many and varied, from serving as president to leading the Leadership and Development Committee,” remarked NAGC Board President Shelagh Gallagher. “She's been active in Networks, served on numerous task force initiatives -- and that's just a start. Ann also cares about the history of this organization and knows the drive and determination that Ann Fabes Isaacs gave to the Association. Ann Robinson has demonstrated a similar commitment,” Gallagher concluded.

Robinson will be presented with the NAGC Ann F. Isaacs Founder’s Memorial Award at NAGC23 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, November 9-12.