On August 12 (last Friday), Julian Stanley passed away after a battle with cancer. He was 87. He will be sorely lost in the field of gifted education.

 

Dr. Stanley was a strong advocate of rapid acceleration for students who are academically able. He was very influential in the development of talent searches using above-grade-level standardized testing (SAT) and offering qualified students accelerated summer classes. When students returned to their regular schools in the fall after taking these accelerated classes and it was realized that they had already mastered the coursework about to be taught, school administrators were forced to consider alternative approaches. In 1979, the Center for Talented Youth (CTY) (based on Dr. Stanley’s talent search model), was established at Johns Hopkins University. Similar programs based on the talent search model were established at Duke University, Northwestern University, the University of Denver, and elsewhere, including Ireland and Spain. By 2005, these university-based programs enrolled more than 200,000 highly talented students into special testing programs and rigorous academic course work.

 

Dr. Stanley’s original research program, the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth, was renamed in June 2005 to the Julian C. Stanley Study of Exceptional Talent. The program enrolls students who, before age 13, earn scores of 700 or higher on the math or verbal portion of the SAT. It provides counseling, mentoring, and other support for these profoundly gifted students.

 

During his career, Dr. Stanley wrote or edited 19 books and over 500 articles in professional journals, including