The Road to America’s First
Early Learning City
America’s First Early Learning City is making sure parents and children have access to the resources that are available in the county.
The Thirty Million Words Initiative
We are fortunate to have Dana Suskind, M.D. and John A. List, Ph.D., in Pensacola as we move one step closer to creating America’s First Early Learning City.
ABOUT John A. List, Ph.D.
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• Chairman, Department of Economics, University of Chicago. • Chief Economist, Uber – The world’s largest online transportation network company. • One of the world’s leading experts on experimental economics. • Has served as senior economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers for Environmental and Resource Economics. • He is a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor, and in 2015 received an honorary doctorate from Tilburg University in the Netherlands.
n early 2016, research by the Studer Community Institute (SCI ) pointed to the fact that Pensacola suffered economically because only 66 percent of the children are ready for kindergarten. To confirm how important kindergarten readiness is, SCI did a national search on the importance of early learning in the success of a child. This search led them to Dr. Dana Suskind of the University of Chicago and the founder and director of the Thirty Million Words Initiative. This initiative is based on research that shows the critical importance of early language exposure on a developing child. In March 2016, Dana Suskind came to Pensacola to spend the day with community members. In the summer, representatives of the Studer Community Institute visited the University of Chicago and spent time with Suskind and John A. List, the chairman of the University of Chicago Department of Economics.
The discussion led to this: Could Pensacola be the first project site for the University of Chicago to bring its programming to a community? This investment by the University of Chicago would make Escambia County a research site focused on how to help communities make sure their children are kindergarten ready. The first step is to make sure that every new mother in a hospital in Escambia County leaves the hospital fully understanding the importance of early learning and how best to develop her child’s brain. This project has the potential to change Escambia County’s economic condition by leading to more children being ready for kindergarten. That means more high school graduates, leading to less crime, and a reduction in teenage pregnancies and poverty. The TMW Newborn Initiative will make Escambia County better, but ultimately, it has the potential to change the nation.
His work focuses on microeconomic issues, and includes more than 150 academic publications.
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By the numbers
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Number of Nobel Prize Laureate have been affiliated with University of Chicago, the fourth most of any institution in the world.
U.S. News and World Report 2017 Ranking of U.S. Colleges: 1. Princeton University 2. Harvard University 3. University of Chicago (tie) Yale University
BOARD OF DIRECTORS • Blaise Adams • Cindi Bear Bonner • Becca Boles • Patrick Elebash • Randy Hammer • Chad Henderson • Gail Husbands • Stacy Keller Williams • Jerry Maygarden 010 1
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• Jean Pierre N’dione • Lisa Nellessen-Lara • Mort O’Sullivan III • Janet Pilcher • Scott Remington • Martha Saunders • Julie Sheppard • Josh Sitton
$390 million Dollars spent by the University of Chicago on scientific research in 2014.
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Number of Rhodes Scholars in University of Chicago’s history.
ABOUT Dana Suskind, M.D. • Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics, University of Chicago • Director, Pediatric Cochlear Implantation Program • Founder and Director, Thirty Million Words Initiative PRACTICE LOCATIONS • University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital, Chicago • Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine, Chicago YEAR STARTED PRACTICE: 1992 BOARD CERTIFICATION: Otolaryngology MEDICAL SCHOOL: University of Missouri School of Medicine INTERNSHIP AND RESIDENCY: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia FELLOWSHIP: Washington University Children’s Hospital, St. Louis MEMBERSHIPS: American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology
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Pensacola is the first city in the world, outside of Chicago, to partner with the University of Chicago and its Thirty Million Words Initiative.
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VISIT STUDERI.ORG
EMAIL rdogan@studeri.org inweekly.net