Wednesday, Aug 9, 2023
Dr. Don Ambrose honored for a lifetime of scholarly work
by Tatiana Sciancalepore
Dr. Don Ambrose, professor emeritus of graduate education at Rider, is the Mensa Foundation’s 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award winner. The biennial award recognizes individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions to the field of intelligence and related subjects.
A renowned scholar, Ambrose specializes in creative intelligence, a comprehensive term encompassing giftedness, talent development, creativity and more. He serves as the editor of the Roeper Review, a peer-reviewed international journal focusing on gifted education and talent development. He also spearheads interdisciplinary projects with distinguished researchers from various fields such as psychology, political science, economics, philosophy, theoretical physics, sociology and more.
“Context matters when scholars are attempting to carry out complex, interdisciplinary investigations,” says Ambrose. “Rider University has provided a very helpful context for me over the years. The University has a lot of outstanding instructors, researchers and graduate students who provide inspiration for their colleagues, and I’ve certainly benefited from that.”
Ambrose has not only published many high-profile book projects, including seven coedited with the eminent psychologist Robert Sternberg, but has also delivered invited keynote presentations around the globe in locations such as Israel, Australia, Germany and Portugal.
This summer, he was invited to speak at the 2023 Mensa Foundation's annual colloquium, joining a distinguished panel of advocates and expert researchers. In his presentation titled "Using Interdisciplinary Exploration to Expand Visions of Neurodiversity," he discussed how exploring various fields beyond psychology can provide a broader understanding of neurodiversity, highlighting examples from diverse fields and discussing their implications for education.
Throughout his career, his contributions have been recognized with prestigious awards such as the Distinguished Scholar award from the National Association for Gifted Children, the Creativity Award from the International Center for Innovation in Education and the Hall of Fame award from the New Jersey Association for Gifted Children.
At Rider, he was awarded both the Dominick A. Iorio Research Prize and the Frank N. Elliott Award for Distinguished Service.