Ronald Marx, who has long been devoted to early childhood education, was recently honored for his work.

Marx, The University of Arizona College of Education dean, recently received the Southern Arizona Association for the Education of Young Children’s 2008 Mary Frobisher Teacher Education Award.

The award was presented to Marx at the association’s Annual Awards Brunch in Tucson last month.

Marx, who began his career as a teacher for Los Angeles City Schools, has begun building a network of support locally and nationally to establish a center for young children at the UA. The center would provide research, education and service to address pressing challenges to the healthy development and successful learning of young children.

"Southern Arizona has been host to a number of new initiatives in support of young children," Marx said. "The College of Education is pleased to contribute its expertise to this exciting development," he said, adding that the award does not only reflect his commitment to the community but that it "is recognition of the entire college's eagerness to participate in this effort."

In addition, Marx has formed a consortium among Arizona’s three public universities, along with other agencies, to develop a proposal for the 10-year evaluation and assessment of "First Things First," a referendum that, among other things, was created to improve learning for children from birth through their first five years.

He also established the UA's Early Childhood Development and Learning Collaboration with the Institute for Children, Youth and Families in the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The collaborative hosted workshops and community meetings with education and agency partners working with young children and has partnered with the Pima County superintendent for public instruction to offer professional development opportunities for education and child care professionals.

Also, Marx re-established his college's instructional programs in early childhood education and has hired at least four new faculty members with strengths in teaching and research in early childhood education.

In the area of outreach, Marx has funded and worked to improve access to "Worlds of Words: The International Collection of Children’s and Adolescent Literature." The teaching and research library, housed at the UA College of Education, is one of the world’s largest collections of international children’s books.