UB professor named to President's National Mathematics Advisory Panel

Douglas H. Clements

Douglas H. Clements of Williamsville and a University at Buffalo professor, who has spent his career ensuring that underrepresented children's potential to learn math does not go unrealized, has been named a member of the President's National Mathematics Advisory Panel.

He joins 16 other experts on the panel, which was formed in April 2006. A professor in the department of learning and instruction in the Graduate School of Education, Clements is nationally recognized as an expert in early childhood mathematics education and the role of computers and technology in education.

The panel, which also includes six ex-officio members, advises President George W. Bush and U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings on the best use of scientifically based research to advance the teaching and learning of mathematics.

UB President John B. Simpson noted that the critical role that a solid foundation in mathematics education plays in preparing students to succeed in the 21st century has been a subject of increasing national interest.

"As an internationally distinguished scholar in the field of early childhood math research and development, Professor Clements is in the vanguard of this field of inquiry," Simpson said. "Few in the academy - or outside it - understand the critical importance of this endeavor as deeply as Professor Clements, and as his inclusion among the handful of scholars in the nation appointed to this federal advisory panel attests, even fewer have exerted the kind of far-reaching impact that he has done."

Clements said he is honored to be one of the members charged with the responsibility to create recommendations for major changes and specific directions for mathematics education in the United States. He said he also is proud to represent UB at the national level.

"This is exciting news for mathematics education at UB, as it will give that program, and the Graduate School of Education, additional national visibility," Clements said. "It's an honor to be chosen for the panel in a process that respects a variety of realms of expertise."

Clements received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities in 2006 and is a recipient of UB's "Sustained Achievement" award. He received his doctorate from UB in 1983 and has taught at the university since 1988.

Clements' work has been supported through a number of grants from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Educational Sciences and the National Science Foundation.

Clements has published more than 100 refereed research articles, eight books, 50 book chapters and 200 additional publications in mathematics education, educational technology and early childhood education. He is active in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, was chair of the editorial panel of the council's Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, and was a writer on NCTM's Principles and Standards in Mathematics Education and the recent Curriculum Focal Points for Prekindergarten to Grade 8 Mathematics: A Quest for Coherence.