Jill Kneen Stamm ’68 a finalist for Woman of the Year Award in Phoenix

In recognition of her teaching, business and philanthropic activities, Jill Kneen Stamm ’68 was selected one of the 10 finalists for the Woman of the Year Award presented by The Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. Stamm and the other nine finalists were among more than 800 people who attended a luncheon at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel on Thursday, Oct. 25, when the Woman of the Year Award, known as the Athena Award, was announced.

A clinical associate professor at Arizona State University, Stamm has had a busy and successful career that now includes national recognition of her work in the field of infant brain development. She is the mother of two daughters – Kristin, a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA, and an older daughter, Jenny, who is multiply handicapped – and both have provided the motivation for her research into the science of learning and the brain. Stamm’s first book, Bright From The Start: The Simple, Science-Backed Way to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind, from Birth to Age 3, was published recently, and it has received national acclaim from both neuroscientists and pediatricians across the country.

Because of her ability to clarify the main messages from neuroscience that detail how babies’ brains wire up for learning and ultimately for school readiness, Stamm is a highly sought-after speaker. She established a nonprofit organization, New Directions Institute for Infant Brain Development in Phoenix, where she and her specially trained staff address more than 7,000 people per year throughout the country. Business leaders, childcare providers, parents and grandparents attend her seminars in order to understand the key factors that really matter when it comes to wiring the brain for future success. (Stamm is in the center in photo at right.)

Stamm also created and patented a product called Brain Boxes™, a set of 12 boxes that provide educational tools for children from birth through 5 years old, for use in childcare settings and pre-schools. A Brain Box™ provides toys, books, games and instructional cards describing how each activity helps to wire the brain in healthy ways. She also offers a new product called a Baby Brain Box™ that highlights easy-to-understand instructions of what to do to maximize a healthy start for learning during the first year of a baby’s life.

You can read more about Stamm and the New Directions Institute by clicking here.

For more information about her book, go to www.brightfromthestartthebook.com.

return to @depauw Home