Employed here for 35 years, Dr. Crawford has distinguished himself without question in a number of arenas. Noted most for his great acumen and abilities to network with a diverse range of constituents to achieve goals, facilitate understanding and promote progressive change, Forrest has carved a lasting imprint on this University and the wider mosaic canopy of Humanity.
A co-founder of several non-governmental organizations like Utah Delta Sigma Theta Incorporated; a professional society for Black Women, the Mahatma Gandhi Alliance for Peace and Coalition for the Advancement of minorities in higher education. Dr. Crawford in addition helped to establish the State Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission – the group responsible for adding the honorary name Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. onto 600 South in SLC, and the Utah Coalition of La Raza that named 500 south Cesar Chavez Blvd.
Crawford’s insights and talents have given him an opportunity to serve on committees, boards and commissions, academic and non-academic like chairing the Utah Disability Law Center, Chair of the Northern Utah HIV/AIDS Coalition, Chair of Children’s Heaven, an orphanage for teen girls in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia and vice-chair of the Utah Humanities Council. He was education Chair for the Utah Academy of Science, Arts and Letters, Treasurer for the Alliance of Black School educators and currently serves as President Millner’s Assistant to the President for Diversity. In fact, most you already know that he currently serves on the selection committee that will soon help name our next President of WSU.
Forrest has mentored hundreds of if not thousands of students earning their Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees. The late Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said about Forrest:
“…your commitment to educate, train and encourage your students Kingian principles of non-violent social change as well as your role as the co-founder and chair of the Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission for Utah, has touched the lives of many. You have been instrumental in promoting the legacy of Dr. King through your speeches, essays, and editorials.”
A perennial citizen’s lobbyist for improving education and human rights in Utah, most notable was his Utah Hate Crimes lobby that resulted in strengthening our laws against hate motivated violence. He has accolades and honors too numerous to mention at local, national, and international. In fact, he was most recently re-elected by his peers to a second term as the presiding Secretary General to the International Society for Teacher Education this past May in meetings held in Paro, Bhutan (2012). He has published in state, national and international sources and presented papers in countries like Israel, Kuwait, South Africa, Taiwan, and Spain, just to name a few.
To see Dr. Crawford's recent "Last Lecture" given as part of the 2012 Teaching and Learning Forum's "Last Lecture" series, click here.
Photo of Dr. Crawford courtesy of the Public University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain