Lloyd R. Sherman, EdD

In August 2012, CMCA experienced deep sadness with the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Lloyd R. Sherman. Lloyd was an important and unique Mount Sinai figure as well as an inspiration to generations of junior/high school children. His death is a tragic loss to Mount Sinai, the Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs (CMCA) and communities of children throughout the metropolitan area.

As Director of Center for Excellence in Youth Education (CEYE-LINK) since 1975, Dr. Sherman was responsible for the leadership and design of programs for middle and high school children and was a driving force in Mount Sinai's creation of the Northeast Regional Alliance of Health Careers Opportunity Program for college students. Dr. Sherman touched the lives of more than 10,000 middle school, high school and college students. These students benefitted from an array of academic programs and services that have resulted in hundreds of physicians, nurses, social workers and allied health professionals from diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds entering the workforce. Many CEYE alumni have ended up as health professionals who currently work in East Harlem and are members of the Mount Sinai staff and faculty.

An educational innovator, Dr. Sherman cut his teeth as a secondary school science teacher at the Narok Secondary School, working for the Ministry of Education in Kenya, East Africa. While teaching his Massai students he formed a clear understanding of what makes a difference in learning; that learning is best achieved when it is relevant, functional, and carried out in a class arranged in learning units of two. This conviction shaped his path as an educator.

Dr. Sherman's most important contribution to education was the development of Dyad Pedagogy, which is a goal-directed educational teaching method where students are randomly assigned into dyads and work together on inquiry-type problems.

A science textbook author and leader in curriculum, evaluation, and transformative pedagogy, his materials and methods have been applied in classrooms and laboratories all over the world. Children will benefit from Dr. Sherman's innovations for generations to come. Institutions currently utilizing Dr. Sherman's pedagogical techniques include the Wildlife Education Center at the Nairobi National Park in Kenya, Teachers College, and Columbia University. Dr. Sherman's impact on academic medicine will also continue through medical school courses and programs at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and Columbia College of Physician and Surgeons.

As an integral member of the CMCA at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Dr. Sherman provided leadership in the Culture and Health Work Group, including the implementation and assessment of cultural curricula across all four years of medical school as well as graduate medical education training programs. Dr. Sherman was the architect of Observing Cultural Behavior in Settings (OCBIS), a system for measuring physician use of cultural elicitation with patients in real time. He was part of the development team that created the iPod application for OCBIS. In addition to his direct teaching roles, he was also an advisor to the health care industry on school-industry partnerships and a consultant to the media and museums on innovative approaches to science education.

To help continue and support the work of CEYE, please make a donation in his name please contact Alyson Davis, MSW, CEYE Program Coordinator by e-mail at alyson.davis@mssm.edu or by telephone at 212.241.7655