AMNH Honors Centenarian Philanthropist for MAT Gift

The American Museum of Natural History will celebrate 105-year-old philanthropist Kathryn W. Davis at a special ceremony and luncheon today to celebrate her generous support of the Museum's new Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Program, the first freestanding master's degree program offered by a museum to prepare science teachers.  The ceremony will also include the official dedication of the new Kathryn W. Davis Science Teaching Classroom, which will be the main educational center for candidates in the MAT program.

"The support of Kathryn W. Davis will help prepare the graduates of the Museum's MAT program to foster a lifelong love of learning and science in a new generation of students," said Museum President Ellen V. Futter. "This innovative program will give our MAT graduates a deep understanding of science content, of the practice of scientific inquiry, and of the relevance of science to students' daily lives."

Mrs. Davis's gift builds on support of $2.625 million from the New York State Education Department, awarded through a competitive grant program created with federal Race to the Top funds. The Museum also received a grant of $2.8 million from the National Science Foundation to study the effectiveness of this innovative approach to teacher preparation. Dr. John B. King Jr., New York State Education Commissioner, will attend and offer remarks.

"It's very necessary today to learn about science," says honoree Kathryn W. Davis. "My own science education was slim. The quality of the classroom experience did not help me understand the excitement inherent in scientific discovery. I think this program will provide a very different experience.  As these teacher candidates are engaged and excited by this program, they will help others to be the same." 

"Nothing impacts a child's learning at school more than the effectiveness of her teacher. That's why the Board of Regents has made teacher preparation a key element of its reform agenda," said Dr. John B. King Jr., New York State Education Commissioner. "It's also why the Board recently approved and helped fund the Museum's Master of Arts in Teaching program. Mrs. Davis's generous gift is good news for this innovative program and great news for New York's school children."

Also attending the ceremony dedicating the Davis Science Teaching Classroom will be members of the first class of new MAT candidates, who will begin their studies at the Museum next month.

Kathryn Davis has devoted much of her life to supporting education, scientific research, the arts, and international understanding, with a major emphasis on peace efforts. She has worked for the Council on Foreign Relations and is the author of The Soviets at Geneva: The USSR and the League of Nations, 1919-1933. To celebrate her 100th birthday, she committed $1 million to funding 100 Projects for Peace, a nationwide competition to incent today's college students to try out their own ideas for building peace in the 21st century. She has also provided funding for the Scenic Hudson RiverWalk Park at Tarrytown, New York.

Drawing on the Museum's unique resources and long history of teacher professional development, the innovative 15-month MAT program is a full-time, fully paid teaching fellowship that will offer coursework with specialization in teaching Earth science for grades 7 through 12 and real-world classroom experience through partnerships with five schools: Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers in Manhattan; the Queens Vocational and Technical High School in Queens; the Thomas C. Giordano Middle School in the Bronx; and Roosevelt High School and Gorton High School in Yonkers. Authorized by the New York State Department of Education as part of a pilot initiative to help address a critical shortage of qualified teachers in New York State, the program will model and test new approaches that can be replicated across New York State and nationally. 

One of the novel features of the Museum's MAT program is a group of seven postdoctoral candidates who have been hired jointly by the Museum's education and scientific departments to work directly with MAT candidates.  Known as the Kathryn W. Davis Postdoctoral Scholars, these researchers have been trained in the fields of paleontology, astrophysics, and Earth science.  In addition, the inaugural group of 21 MAT candidates will be known as the Kathryn W. Davis Graduate Teaching Fellows. The MAT program is co-directed by Maritza Macdonald, Ed.D., the Museum's senior director of education policy, and Rosamond Kinzler, Ph.D., senior director of science education at the Museum.

The Museum is currently accepting applications for the next round of MAT candidates. Interested candidates should apply online at www.amnh.org/mat. Applications are due on January 31, 2013.