TC Mourns Warren Yasso | Teachers College Columbia University

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TC Mourns Warren Yasso, former Mathematics and Science Education Department Chair

Warren Yasso
Warren Yasso
Warren E. Yasso, former Chairman of the Department of Mathematics and Science Education, died on September 10th at the age of 85. Yasso earned his M.A. (1961) and Ph.D. (1964) in Geology at Columbia University, researching sand transport in near-shore currents and the formation of headland bay beaches at Sandy Hook, NJ. He taught at Teachers College from 1966 to 1998, with an emphasis on oceanography, environmental issues, the shoreline of the New York Bight and science pedagogy. He coauthored Matter: An Earth Science and Earth Science Activities: A Guide to Effective Elementary School Science Teaching and other books, and was a contributor to Sedimentology, Science Activities and other publications. He is survived by his son, Douglas, daughter-in-law, Martha, and grandchildren, Ian and Evelyn.

Published Tuesday, Sep 20, 2016

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Remembrances

Warren Yasso arrived at Teachers College during the expansive interest in science education at the College during the mid twentieth century, when particular attention was given to enhancing the breadth of content expertise in the Department of Science Education, particularly after "Sputnik" when much of America was awaking to the need for more emphasis on science. Warren brought some of the remarkable insights of the revolution in Earth Sciences taking place in the 1950s and 1960s, known as "Plate tectonics," to precollege students through an NSF-funded curriculum project and taught very popular courses for teachers at all levels in oceanography and broad themes in the geological sciences. Always friendly and engaging he contributed much to the professional development of earth science teachers during his three-decades at the College. We are confident that his many contributions will live on through the valuable service of the professional teachers who he taught. — O. Roger Anderson