In memoriam: Roberta Bouverat, 1937 - 2013

Roberta Bouverat, a Western Washington University alumna and longtime professor in the WWU Department of Education, passed away on Thursday, Oct. 24, in Bellingham. She was born on Sept. 11, 1937, in Chicago.

Bouverat first came to Western in 1955, when she began her journey toward completing both her bachelor of arts degree (in 1959) and her master's degree (in 1962) at WWU.

After graduating from Western, she taught elementary classes in the United States and in West Germany. She eventually joined the faculty at Western in 1970 and taught there until 1990, when she retired as an associate professor emeritus of Early Childhood Education.

At Western, Bouverat worked with Larry MacMillan, early childhood program manager of the Associated Students child daycare at Western, to study the childcare situation in Whatcom County. She also was responsible for the final development of the Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Ed major as an academic major at WWU.

She studied extensively in the area of early childhood education, and was known around the state and country for her contributions to that field. Even recently she was actively engaged in working with current Early Childhood Education faculty at Western.

Among her awards:

• 1987 Award of Excellence from Citizens Education Center Northwest for volunteer efforts to establish new, higher standards of excellence in public education
• 1969 Scholarship Award from Delta Kappa Gamma Society International for Ph.D study at Ohio State University
• 1968-69 NDEA Fellowship from the Teachers College at Columbia University's Experienced Teacher Fellowship Program

News on a potential memorial service, should there be one, will be announced when it's available.