Wallace Research Symposium

Henry B. (H. B.) Wallace (1915–2005) was an exceptionally gifted individual with amazing talents. These same talents led to extraordinary success in business, which he used to translate his concern for students and the future of U.S. education into action. These concerns, coupled with a respect for the importance of research as a means to answer questions and improve life, were the impetus for the Biennial Henry B. & Jocelyn Wallace National Research Symposium on Talent Development (Wallace Research Symposium). The Wallace Research Symposium, which was initiated with an endowment from the Wallace Research Foundation in the late 1980s, was held for the first time in 1991, at the University of Iowa.

The Wallace Research Symposium, described in this entry, has been internationally acclaimed as a preeminent research conference in gifted education. The structure of the symposium, including the meeting location, quality of speakers, and presentation format, lends itself to a personal experience that represents the height of professional development. Typically conducted over 2.5 days, nearly a dozen high-profile speakers are featured at each Wallace Research Symposium. A unique combination of experts in the field of gifted education as well as outside the field leads to an intellectually stimulating experience for all in attendance.

A sample of the range of keynote presentations includes the following:

• Music, the Creative Process, and the Path of Enlightenment: Guiding the Gifted Through Their “Dark Night” to the “Music of the Spheres,” which was presented and performed by pianist Lorin Hollander
• Enlightenment: Guiding the Gifted Through Their “Dark Night” to the “Music of the Spheres,” which was presented and performed by pianist Lorin Hollander
• From “Play Partner” to “Sure Shelter”: How conceptions of Friendship Differ Between Average Ability, Moderately Gifted, and Highly Gifted Children, presented by Professor Miraca Gross, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
• Anti-Intellectuals in Universities, Schools, and Gifted Education, presented by Professor Nicholas Colangelo, The Belin-Blank Center, The University of Iowa
• Why Are We Afraid to Unleash the Academic Talent in Most Kids? presented by Jay Mathews of The Washington Post
• Creative Giftedness, presented by Professor Robert Sternberg (formerly of Yale University)

There are five categories for presentations at Wallace Research Symposia: the Julian C. Stanley Distinguished Lecture, Keynote Presentations, Invited Presentations, Concurrent Presentations, and Poster Presentations.

In 2002, the Julian C. Stanley Distinguished Lecture was initiated in recognition of the contributions to gifted education by the late Julian C. Stanley. Those selected to deliver the Stanley Distinguished Lecture are internationally recognized scholars.

Keynote presentations, which do not have any other activities scheduled opposite them, are broad [Page 934]in scope and intended to encourage the participants to think innovatively about gifted education. Invited presentations are frequently scheduled two per time slot and tend to be more focused on research presentations that emphasize applications to the field. Keynote and Invited presenters are invited by the symposium's organizers.

In addition, concurrent presentations and poster presentations are selected from among the proposals submitted in response to a call for papers, which is made available several months in advance of the symposium. These presentations tend to be on specific lines of research and frequently represent cutting-edge results. The concurrent presentations are traditional (albeit shorter) in presentation format, with no more than nine sessions scheduled at the same time. Poster presentations are held in a single large room, which enables the symposium attendees to visit multiple presentations during that time.

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