Jan Hawkins of the Education School. Photo by Richard Chase.

Jan Hawkins, professor of practice in learning technology at the Graduate School of Education (GSE) and a pioneer in the field of technology in education, died Feb. 9. She suffered a recurrence of the breast cancer that had been in remission for three years. Hawkins was 47.

The recipient of a MacArthur Foundation grant for her work in cognitive psychology and educational technology, Hawkins served, since 1993, as director of the Center for Children and Technology in New York before joining the GSE's Technology in Education faculty in the fall of 1998.

For more than two decades, Hawkins' research stressed that computers and other technologies were not educational panaceas, but highly effective aids that could be used to enhance good teaching and address complex educational challenges. Hawkins' discoveries helped spark investigations, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, into the roles that technologies could play in school reform.

"Jan had the extraordinary ability to work simultaneously and superbly at many levels, from devising the tiniest details of a classroom experiment to painting a compelling vision of technology's place in the schools of the future," said George Brackett, director of the GSE's Technology in Education Program.

Through her work on advisory boards and panels for national and international organizations, Hawkins shaped the way researchers, educators, and government and foundation officials think about technology in education.

"Jan was deeply and widely admired for her intellectual leadership and dedication to the field," said GSE Dean Jerome T. Murphy. "She will be sorely missed by all of us who had the good fortune to know her, work with her, and learn from her vision."

A memorial service for Jan Hawkins will be held at noon on Sunday, March 7, at Synod House, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, 107 Amsterdam Ave., New York City. After the service, there will be a gathering at the offices of the Center for Children and Technology at the Education Development Center, 96 Morton St., 7th floor, New York City.