Dr. Tracy L. Cross named 2020 Palmarium Award winner

The Office of the Daniel L. Ritchie Endowed Chair in Gifted Education at the Morgridge College of Education is pleased to announce Dr. Tracy L. Cross as recipient of the 2020 Palmarium Award, an annual award given to an individual who most exemplifies the vision of the Office of the Daniel L. Ritchie Endowed Chair in Gifted Education. The office seeks a future in which giftedness will be understood, embraced, and systemically nurtured. Recipients of the Palmarium Award demonstrate the vision through understanding of giftedness in the areas of:

• Practice by impacting graduate education, pre-service, and P-12 community
• Outreach through advocacy at a variety of levels (local, national, international)
• Publications informing teachers, children, parents, policy makers, and academia
• Research influencing theory, practice, and policy

“Through the generosity of the Considine Family Foundation, the Palmarium Award provides professional acknowledgment and tangible support to eminent leaders in the field of Gifted Education,” said Norma Hafenstein, the Daniel L. Ritchie Endowed Chair in Gifted Education. “Dr. Cross’ commitment to the social and emotional needs of gifted learners is inspirational. We are pleased to recognize Tracy’s visionary leadership in support of mental health challenges and positive intervention.”

Cross is the Jody and Layton Smith endowed chair and Professor of Psychology and Gifted Education and Executive Director of both the Center for Gifted Education and Institute for Research on the Suicide of Gifted Students at William & Mary. He previously served Ball State University as the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Gifted Studies, and the founder and Executive Director of both the Center for Gifted Studies and Talent Development and the Institute for Research on the Psychology of the Gifted Students. For nine years, Cross served as the Executive Director of the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities, a residential high school for intellectually gifted adolescents, and was the former director of two state associations for gifted education: Wyoming Association for Gifted Education and Indiana Association for the Gifted.

He has published over 200 articles, book chapters, and columns; made over 300 presentations at conferences; published ten books, with number 11 in press; edited five journals in the field of gifted studies (Journal for the Education of the Gifted, Gifted Child Quarterly, Roeper Review, Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, Research Briefs) and two general education journals (The Teacher Educator and the Journal of Humanistic Education). In 2011, Cross received the Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) and the Distinguished Service Award from both The Association for the Gifted (TAG) and NAGC. He is President Emeritus of NAGC and TAG, having served terms as President of TAG on two occasions. In 2009, he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the MENSA Education and Research Foundation.

Cross will receive his award and present the lunchtime address at the 10th Annual Gifted Education Symposium and Conference, “Celebrating Gifted Education:  Reflecting on our Past and Impacting Our Future” at the Wellshire Event Center, Denver, CO on Jan. 30 and 31, 2020. Please visit the conference link for registration and other conference details. For more information about this award, visit the conference webpage.