Hope (Bess) Wilson is the new chair of the Department of Special and Early Education.
She comes to NIU from the University of North Florida, where she had taught since 2012 and most recently served as a professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum.
Other roles during her decade in Jacksonville included service as a graduate program director; faculty coordinator for Assessment and Accreditation in the College of Education and Human Services; president of the college’s Faculty Assembly; and vice president and grievance officer for the United Faculty of Florida-UNF.
Wilson replaces Laura Hedin, named to succeed Yanghee Kim as the College of Education’s Morgridge Endowed Chair.
“I am excited to be in a state – an environment – that will support my family, and a state that supports higher education and its policies, and I’m excited about this leadership position,” Wilson says.
“My passion is helping to facilitate students, faculty and staff in reaching their potential,” she adds, “so my hopes and goals are to listen, to facilitate and to really grow the program to allow students to excel and to have programs that really make a difference in Illinois.”
Former NIU College of Education Dean Laurie Elish-Piper, who currently is the university’s interim executive vice president and provost, calls Wilson “a team builder with a collaborative mentality, a spirit of innovation and deep, rich experience in K-12 schools.”
“There are so many opportunities in early childhood and special education right now, so it’s exciting to have a department chair who will come with in a very innovative, collaborative and partnership-oriented approach to build on the successes that Laura Hedin has been able to foster,” Elish-Piper says.
“Bess also is well-situated to leverage new and exciting opportunities that build on the work our faculty are doing to support the success of students,” Elish-Piper adds, “and she brings a strong commitment to creating and using partnerships to enhance the quality of education that we can provide as we prepare teachers while simultaneously adding value to those school districts.”
Acting Dean Bill Pitney is equally excited to welcome Wilson to the college’s leadership team.
“Dr. Wilson is a well-respected educator and proven scholar who brings a breadth of leadership experience that will serve the department and college well,” Pitney says. “Her collaborative and creative approach will position her well to work with our internal and external partners and to make a positive difference for our students and school districts.”
For Wilson, the journey to DeKalb began in the Lone Star State.
“I grew up in the Dallas area, so Texas runs deep with me. I’m a fifth-generation Texan, so it’s very much a part of my personality,” Wilson says. “I also come from a long line of artists. My mom is an artist, and my great-grandfather was an artist, so it’s in my blood.”
After graduating early from high school, she enrolled at Austin College, where in 2001 she earned her bachelor’s in art with an emphasis in painting.
“I got that degree knowing that I was going to go in education, and I knew that I wanted to be an art teacher,” she says. “Although I’m not currently painting, I still craft and have a lot of creative outlets. I’m always creating something.”
From 2002 to 2004, she taught art to kindergartners through fifth-graders at Thomas Haley Elementary School in the Irving Independent School District. She held the same role from 2004 to 2006 at Mockingbird Elementary School in the Coppell Independent School District.
Meanwhile, in the winter of 2002, she completed her M.A.T. in Education at Austin College – and her learning was not limited to graduate school.
What happened next would lay the groundwork for her entry into higher education.
“As an art teacher, I went to every professional development possible because I taught every student in the school,” she says. “My district was offering two weeks of free gifted training, and I was like, ‘Sign me up,’ and at the end of it, they offered free coursework to get your full certification endorsement in gifted, and again I said, ‘Sign me up. More professional development sounds great.’ ”
But as that process continued, and only a few credits short of that certification, Wilson decided to enroll at Hardin-Simmons University, where in 2005 she earned an M.Ed. in Gifted Education.
Four years later, she finished her Ph.D. in Education Psychology: Gifted Education at the University of Connecticut.
Those degrees realized a longtime ambition.
“I graduated at age 16 from a residential high school for advanced students, where we lived in college dorms and took all college classes. That experience really started my curiosity about what kinds of options we offer students who are ready for more advanced coursework,” she says.
“And, as I got more into thinking about those students, I thought about the intersection with students who have exceptionalities and how we meet those really unique needs of students who maybe have something like dyslexia and are ready for advanced work, or who are on the autism spectrum and also have advanced capabilities.”
Such questions fuel her research agenda. “It’s about that dichotomy,” she says, “and about the social and emotional needs of gifted students who have anxiety, perfectionism and those kinds of things.”
Joining Wilson in DeKalb is her 14-year-old daughter, Kora, who will start at DeKalb High School this fall. Older daughter Lily, 21, is staying in Florida.
Also coming with her is the goal “to partner together to make the world a better place.”
“Maybe that seems idealistic,” Wilson says, “but, honestly, teacher preparation, and particularly early childhood education and special education, are the ways in which we will change the world for the better.”
