Profiles of Giving

Laura Litcofsky, SED’91

Laura (Hall) Litcofsky, SED '91, right, posed with Associate Dean Boyd Dewey, SED '75, '79, and his wife Katherine Dewey, SED '70, '74, at the Alumni Awards Dinner and Ceremony in May 2004. Laura received the Arthur H. Wilde Society Award.

"Dean Dewey and Dean Dee have watched me grow from a shy student who attended BU with the help of scholarship funds, to a member of the SED Student Council, then a proud graduate who went on to teach pre-kindergarten in the Chelsea Public Schools, where I now help implement math curricula as a Lead Math Teacher," says Laura Litcofsky ('91).

"Every change has been an adventure, and each has brought renewed gratitude for the opportunities I was given at BU. The lessons I learned at SED serve me every day in my classroom in Chelsea.  Student teaching in the Early Childhood Learning Lab honed my practical skills, and taught me to be conscious of everything I say and do (a useful lesson both in and out of the classroom!).  I am also a member of the SED Alumni Board.  That membership is very special to me, because the Board supports programs and services that directly benefit students.  The SED Fund does that, too.I support the SED Fund annually.  I hope you will join me."

To learn more about the SED Fund, please visit http://www.bu.edu/alumni/giving/annualfund/sed/index.html.

Arthur Tufts, SED’61

Dean Douglas Sears presented Arthur Tufts, SED '61, with the Arthur H. Wilde Society Award in May 2004.

Jean Staples (’49, ’65) shared a love of education with her husband, Arthur Tufts (’61). After earning bachelor’s degrees in education, Jean and Arthur married. Then having raised their four children, James, Anne, Peter, and Thomas, the couple earned SED master’s degrees. Anne became principal of the Rockingham School for handicapped children, in Exeter, New Hampshire, and became the state’s Special Olympics director at the request of Eunice Kennedy Shriver. With Arthur, who was president of the New Hampshire senate, Jean hosted the 1970 Special Olympics New Hampshire Summer Games at Philips Exeter Academy. Soon thereafter, she was appointed assistant secretary of education for special education under President Reagan, a position she held for three years until she died.

Arthur promised Jean, their children, and himself that he would carry on Jean’s legacy—a commitment he has fulfilled. In memory of this devoted woman, the family has established a School of Education scholarship through a charitable gift annuity. The Jean Staples Tufts Scholarship is Jean’s living legacy.

To learn more about a bequest or planned gift designed to fit your circumstances, please visit www.bu.edu/gep.