Barbara Ervin, director of Lander University's Montessori education program, has been chosen to receive The Mary Frances Poole Alston Award, which is presented to a faculty or staff member who provides visibility for Lander throughout the state of South Carolina, the United States and the world.
University President Dr. Daniel Ball said Ervin has given Lander name recognition in promoting the Montessori program to potential students, not only throughout South Carolina, but across the country and internationally as well.
She is a member of the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE) and has made site visits to colleges and universities in Taiwan twice; Shanghai, China; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Dublin, Ireland, as part of a three-member evaluation team. She is scheduled to be among a team of educators traveling to Prague for an accreditation visit in November.
An associate professor of education, Ervin joined the Lander faculty in 2001 as director of the program, which was renamed The Virginia Self Center for Montessori Education in 2006. Lander's is the only university-based Montessori program in South Carolina.
Ervin described herself as "completely surprised" to have been chosen for the Alston award and added, "I feel very honored."
Rowland P. Alston, host of the Emmy-winning SCETV horticulture and gardening show "Making It Grow," created the prize to honor his grandmother, Mary Frances Poole Alston, a member of Lander's 1914 graduating class.