Bobbie Gilman Retires

For the last 3 decades, Barbara “Bobbie” Jackson Gilman has been a lighthouse for families of the gifted who have visited Gifted Development Center (GDC). Bobbie had both of her own children assessed at GDC, and then shared that she had experience administering intelligence tests. It was clear that she would be a tremendous asset to our organization. She had advocated tirelessly for both of her exceptionally gifted boys; she knew from first-hand experience the struggles faced by parents of the gifted. She was one of the founders of Summit Middle School in Boulder, Colorado, an award-winning, accelerated charter school, for which she developed the curriculum.

Bobbie began as a part-time examiner, then became Director of Staff Development, supervising interns, university practicum students, and new staff members. No one became an examiner at GDC until Bobbie had observed them and determined that they had the appropriate skill set. In 2003, she published Empowering Gifted Minds, which won the Legacy Award and Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Silver award. Since 2006, Bobbie has co-led the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) Task Force on IQ Test Interpretation and the subsequent Assessments of Giftedness Special Interest Group (SIG). She has continuously demonstrated leadership ability at the national level, orchestrating three position statements for NAGC, professional articles on assessment of the gifted and twice exceptional, influencing legislators and IQ test constructors about their needs. A popular speaker, she has delivered innumerable regional and national presentations. When Associate Director, Betty Maxwell, retired, Bobbie was hired as the new Associate Director. In her roles as consultant, examiner and Associate Director, Bobbie helped thousands of families. In 2015, she was nationally recognized by SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted) as Healthcare Professional of the Year.

Bobbie published two books in 2008: Challenging Highly Gifted Learners with Prufrock Press, a superb, concise guide for teachers, and Academic Advocacy for Gifted Learners with Great Potential Press. In 2020, Bobbie published Gifted Minds Empowered, and developed two advocacy courses based on her book. In her retirement, she will continue to offer advocacy courses for parents and professionals.

You will be missed, Bobbie. We wish you well in this next phase of your journey.