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Herbert Davis Simons

IN MEMORIAM

Herbert Davis Simons

Professor of Education, Emeritus

UC Berkeley

1937 – 2009

 

Herbert “Herb” D. Simons, a pioneer in the academic study of school and sports and a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education, died of chronic lymphocytic leukemia on July 1, 2009. He was 72 years old.

 

Simons earned a Doctor of Optometry degree from the Massachusetts College of Optometry in 1962. After practicing as an optometrist at New England Medical Center for one year, he turned to a lifelong interest in reading acquisition. By 1963, he had earned an Ed.M. with an emphasis on remedial reading from Boston University; three years later he earned another Ed.M. degree, this time from Harvard University.

 

By the time Simons received an Ed.D. from Harvard in 1970, he had already held a series of reading research positions there. Simons came to Berkeley in 1970 and became an associate professor in 1974, and professor emeritus in 2006. During his long tenure at Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education (GSE), he directed the M.A. Program in Reading Disability and the Advanced Reading and Language Leadership Program and later the M.A. Program in Athletes and Academic Achievement; he chaired the Language, Literacy, Society & Culture Area; and he authored or coauthored several research papers and reports. He was also an affiliated faculty member of the School of Optometry since 1985.

 

Simons was an advisor to a number of Ph.D. graduates in reading and literacy research. “He inspired us with his intellect, his passion for clear thinking and a commitment to the most rigorous research possible so that we might solve problems that would enable all students in our society to gain access to literacy and learning,” said Don Leu, the Neag Endowed Chair in Literacy and Technology at the University of Connecticut and past president of the National Reading Conference.

 

“What held all of his work together was his passion for equity,” added Professor Sarah Freedman, now head graduate advisor in Berkeley’s GSE, a position that Simons twice held. “When he did research in reading, he was most interested in the kids who were least well served by the school.”

 

As his friend and colleague, Professor Paul Ammon, noted, “Herb never lost sight of the need to address the many inequities that persist in our society, both in education and beyond. He gave generously of his own time in order to address those inequities himself. As an educator, Herb took seriously the idea that school success could be greatly enhanced by giving all students opportunities to build on knowledge they had acquired in their everyday lives outside of school. His commitment to that idea was reflected in his teaching and his research.”

 

"He approached every academic endeavor — a new article, course, program or dissertation project — with a strong sense of enthusiasm and commitment," said GSE Dean and Professor P. David Pearson. "But there was nothing that Herb did that brought him as much joy and fulfillment as his master's program in Athletes and Academic Achievement."

 

Simons was founding director of UC Berkeley's Athletes and Academic Achievement Program (AAA), a master’s program in the GSE. He was also instrumental in the development of the Athletic Study Center (ASC), a campus support service for student athletes launched in 1984 that offers tutoring and academic advising.

 

His involvement with the ASC began in the 1990s, when the center was led by Jo Baker. Baker approached Simons on the sidelines at a Cal spring football practice, telling him the center had only one tutor on board and asking whether he could help her find more. Simons answered the call not only by recruiting School of Education masters' and doctoral students as tutors but also by setting up a study skills class for student athletes, many of whom were high-profile players.

 

The ASC is now considered a model program for collegiate student athletes and a significant reason for UC Berkeley’s improved academic performance through graduation rates, high scores on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Academic Progress Reports, and retention of student athletes.

 

Simons started his Athletes and Academic Achievement program with the similar goal of helping student athletes improve their academic performance and get more out of their Cal education. He wanted student athletes to apply their athletic knowledge and academic skills to the scholarly study of the role of sport in society and the conflict between academics and athletics.

 

“Until Athletes and Academic Achievement, there was no program looking in a theoretical and intellectual way at the intersections of school and sport,” said Derek Van Rheenen, who now directs the M.A. program as well as the Athletic Study Center. Van Rheenen, a former Cal and professional soccer player, and Tony Smith, a former Cal football player and the new superintendent of Oakland schools, were the program’s first two master’s students in 1992 and helped Simons develop the program in 1995.

 

 “There were lots of sports management programs and sports psychology programs,” said Van Rheenen. “But there were no programs in the country that were looking at the way in which physical education and institutionalized sport were embedded within our educational institutions. This was his love. This was his passion. He had a very deep sense of social justice. He really advocated for low-income, first-generation student athletes. He felt that they were overly stigmatized and needed to be supported. Universities were bringing these young men and women onto campus and giving them very mixed messages. Herb had a real social conscience about trying to realize the promise that these young men and women had, and in helping them achieve academically.”

 

Athletes and Academic Achievement program graduates have successfully pursued sports- and education-related careers as professional athletes, coaches, teachers, athletic and educational administrators and advisers to student athletes. Besides Smith and Van Rheenen, former students include (among many others): Scott Fujita (football), a New Orleans Saints linebacker; Mark Orr (football), athletic director at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California; Keiko Price (swimming), assistant academic director for student athletes at Stanford University; and Courtney Johnson Clendinen (basketball), director of CYO Athletics at Catholic Charities in San Francisco.

 

Simons also established a mentoring group that paired Cal football players with Berkeley High School students in 2000. The college players helped the younger students learn study skills and time management.

 

“It helped all of us improve. It was a great program,” said Mark Jensen, a former Cal and National Football League place kicker, who served for three years as Cal football's director of player development.

 

Interestingly, Simons was never a collegiate athlete himself. He was, however, a lifetime fan of sports and an avid basketball player into his seventies.

 

During his nearly three years of retirement, Simons fought for his health but still savored helping graduate students with their research. He enjoyed learning from his students as much as teaching them. He also loved spending time with his family and friends, engaging in spirited conversations on all topics, eating good food, and attending Cal football and basketball games.

 

Simons is survived by Elizabeth (Liz) Simons, his wife of 43 years; his daughter Rachel of Santa Barbara, California; son Daniel of El Cerrito; and two granddaughters.

 

 

Paul Ammon                                                                                                                2009

Sarah Freedman

Derek Van Rheenen