Kathleen Acord, 47, KQED educator
Publilshed in Current, June 22, 2009
By Dru Sefton
Kathleen Acord of San Mateo, Calif., director of education for KQED in San Francisco until January, died in a car accident June 14. She was 47.
Her husband, Charles Chapman, was in the car and suffered major injuries. He is now home from the hospital.
“Kathleen was dedicated to our mission and to the mission of creating educational opportunities for underserved communities,” said KQED President Jeff Clarke in a statement. “Kathleen was widely admired across the PBS system and sat on many advisory boards and committees.”
Acord began her career as an intern in KQED’s education network department in 1992; she was promoted to manager in 2000 and director in 2002. In her work shaping and managing the station’s Ready to Learn initiative for preschoolers, she forged strong community partnerships and extended outreach efforts into Spanish- and Chinese-speaking communities throughout the Bay Area, according to station spokesman Scott Walton.
Acord was a presenter at many local, state, national education and PBS conferences and consulted for PBS on national early childhood education initiatives. She served two terms on the PBS Ready to Learn advisory committee and one term on the PBS TeacherSource advisory group. She also was a consultant for Sesame Workshop on national materials.
Fred Rogers’ Family Communications Inc., the American Women in Radio and Television and the Child Care Coordinating Council of San Mateo County had separately honored Acord for her service.
She was born Aug. 6, 1961, to Patricia and Loren Acord in Philadelphia.
Acord received her bachelor’s degree in broadcast communication arts from San Francisco State University and completed coursework in early childhood education.
She is survived by her husband; sons Spencer and Max; her parents; sister, Erin; and an extended family.
Colleagues, former co-workers and friends honored Acord at an informal memorial gathering on June 19 at a club near KQED’s offices. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Web page posted July 6, 2009
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