Alice Sterling Honig, professor emerita of child and family studies in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics at Syracuse University, died in early March in Michigan. She was 93 years old.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Dr. Honig was valedictorian of her high school before earning a bachelor’s degree at Barnard College in New York City. She then earned a master’s degree at Columbia University before taking time off to raise a family.
After obtaining a Ph.D. in developmental psychology at Syracuse University, Dr. Honig and her colleagues implemented one of the longest federally funded intervention programs aimed to ward off the pernicious effects of poverty on the social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development of young children in the Syracuse area. This program became a model for national initiatives such as Head Start to lift children out of poverty.
In several hundred articles and book chapters and numerous books, Dr. Honig outlined the impact of parenting beliefs, practices and modes of socialization on the developmental trajectories of young children. Her publications and presentations spanned numerous areas of child development and early childhood education, including infant development, language development, emotional development, parent-child interactions, strategies for early and inclusive education, and gender studies.
Dr Honig was my mentor and advisor at Syracuse University during my PhD in Child & Family Studies program. She completely changed the course of my studies and I’m forever grateful. She opened my eyes to the critical developmental periods of growth in infant and toddler stages of life. She was one of a kind and I am a better human being for having her influence in my life. She will be remembered with awe and love.