In Memory

Belinda Benson

Belinda Benson

Published in The Record on June 3, 2009 - 

BENSON-WILLIAMS Dr. Belinda, nationally known Cognitive Psychologist, author, editor, speaker, and critic of the education system in the United States for more than 35 years -- died peacefully on May 22, 2009, with her immediate family by her side in Miquon, PA. She was 68 years old.

 

"Blen," as her family and close friends fondly called her, was the eldest daughter of Daniel and Ola Spears-Benson. She was born in Englewood, New Jersey (1940), attended Englewood Public Schools, and graduated from Dwight-Morrow High School. As a child and young adult, Belinda attended Shiloh African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Englewood. She received a Bachelor of Science Degree in biology from Baldwin-Wallace College, a Master of Arts Degree in psychology from the Graduate Faculty, New School for Social Research, and a Doctorate of Psychology Degree from The Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, Rutgers University.

 

Belinda met her late husband, Robert Irwin Williams, "Bob," during her senior year at Baldwin-Wallace. The couple married in June 1964. As newlyweds, they lived in Fort Lee, New Jersey. During that time, Belinda worked as a biologist at Rockefeller University in New York City and Lederle Laboratories in Pearl River, New York. They became proud parents of Mark Daniel and Craig Tyler and in 1967 purchased their first home in Teaneck, New Jersey. Several years later they purchased their second Teaneck home, often referred to as "Carroll Arms" because of frequent stays of the friends and families they enjoyed.

 

As a young mother and member of an informal Teaneck reading/discussion group in the late sixties, Belinda became aware of the achievement gap between African-American and white students. Her cross-cultural study of learning and the development of intelligences framed her unique perspective and study of this elusive social and civil- rights challenge. Analysis and dissemination of related research and theory became her passion and was central to her study/research, career, and numerous publications. If you knew Dr. Williams, you knew of her views and vision for closing the achievement gap.

 

In addition to frequent national presentations, her professional experiences included the positions of Director of Project Development Continuity, a United States Department of Education research project for Paterson Head Start; Director of Research and Development for the Paterson Public Schools, where she developed, along with Paterson educators, the first nationally recognized urban district-wide, higher order thinking skills project in the United States (Project Development Continuity); senior research and development positions at the United States Department of Education regional laboratories at Research for Better Schools, Brown University, and the University of Pennsylvania.

 

During her career, the research, development and implementation of her work was supported by more than 3 million dollars in allocations from The National Education Association, the United States Department of Education, and the Kellogg Foundation. She edited two editions of Closing the Achievement Gap: A Vision to Guide Research and Practice, co-authored Effort and Excellence in Urban Classrooms: Expecting-and Getting-Success With All Students, and published numerous chapters and articles.For her efforts to impact district, state, and Federal policies, to reject deficit interpretations of the achievement patterns of children of color - particularly those living in poverty - Dr. Williams received the Ida B. Wells Risk Tasker Award from the National Alliance of Black School Educators in 1993. She appreciated this award most among the many acknowledgements of her work.

 

In recent years, she taught a course in human development at the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, and enjoyed what she often described as the most enriching and spiritual experience of her life during her tenure as Distinguished Visiting Professor at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina, spring 2007. Her teaching experience concluded with a series of courses on meeting the diversity challenge in education at Chestnut Hill College.

 

For many years Belinda and Bob enjoyed visits to St. Maarten, Mexico, and other islands in the Caribbean. She loved the time spent there, with family and friends. Her collections of watermelons and the personification of "donkeys" were the subject of many fun-filled conversations. In addition to the good years she spent with Bob and the rewards of raising their sons, another joy of Belinda's life was her grandson Asa. They experienced wonderful times together, including traveling to Disney World, London, and Paris. Together, they also enjoyed the theatres in New York, restaurants and shopping. She was instrumental in his education, and he is currently a student at Boston University.

 

For the last 16 years, Belinda enjoyed living in the home she and Bob purchased in Miquon, Pennsylvania. She shared wonderful experiences with family and friends in Sag Harbor, New York, and in recent years, she cherished spending the warm seasons in Craig and Andrea's home in East Hampton. Belinda is survived by her sons, Mark Daniel and Craig Tyler; daughters-in-law, Chihirro and Andrea; grandson, Asa Jackson; sisters, Muriel Brantley, Beverly Davis, and Barbara Johnson; brothers-in-law Glen Brantley, Ronald Davis, and Dr. Warren Johnson; and a host of nieces and nephews, and other relatives.

 

Belinda also derived much pleasure from years of professional relationships and the intimate, enduring friendships she maintained, including her membership in the North Jersey Chapter of National Smart Set, and dinners with GEMS.Belinda will be remembered for her smile, her appreciation for life's beauty and humor, and her love of a good conversation. She will be missed by all who knew her.

 

 

 

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