Our “Legacy of Leaders” series highlights just some of the many people whose dedicated work has been indispensable in getting the AADC to the precipice of this magnificent milestone. They all have established an enormous legacy of leadership that will ensure the future of our sisterhood. Let’s celebrate them!

Published on January 26, 2022

E is for excellence, educational expertise, and extern sponsor extraordinaire, all descriptions of Rosemarie Truglio ’83, a passionate supporter of the AADC and Senior Vice President of Curriculum and Content at Sesame Workshop.

For nearly two decades, Rosemarie was the most sought after externship sponsor at the former AADC Extern Program. She loved sharing her passion for early childhood education with Douglass students who were pursuing this field.

She is a profound and inspiring lecturer as well, presenting “Behind the Magic” as the Zagoren lecturer in 2005. Rosemarie was also the keynote speaker at the AADC Reunion Convocation in 2015 and the keynote speaker at Founders Day/The Society of Excellence Induction Ceremony in 2019.

Rosemarie is the author of “Sesame Street: Ready for School! A Parent’s Guide for Playful Learning for Children ages 2 to 5,” which was published in 2019. She is responsible for the development of the interdisciplinary curriculum on which Sesame Street is based and oversees content development across television, publishing, toys, home video and theme park activities. She also oversees the curriculum development for all new show productions. Rosemarie has also written numerous articles in child and developmental psychology journals and presents her work at national and international conferences. She is co-editor of “G is for Growing: Thirty Years of Research on Children and Sesame Street.”

A loyal and consistent supporter of the AADC Annual Appeal, Rosemarie and her husband, Steven Brown, created an endowed scholarship during the AADC’s last capital campaign. The Rosemarie T. Truglio ’83 Ph.D. Scholarship provides financial support to a deserving Douglass student who is pursuing a major related to early childhood education and development. Rosemarie was a scholarship recipient while at Douglass College and is grateful to be able to assist students with the same opportunity.

Rosemarie was inducted into The Douglass Society (now the AADC Society of Excellence) in 2005. The AADC nominated her to the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 2014 and she was inducted. The University of Kansas presented her with their Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013; she received her doctoral degree there in developmental and child psychology.

Before joining Sesame Workshop in 1997, she was an assistant professor of communication and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Through her research, she investigated the effects of television on the cognitive and social development of children and adolescents.

Rosemarie currently serves on advisory boards including Playful Learning Landscapes Action Network; Read Alliance Advisory Council; and Child Trends News Service. She is also involved with The PBS KIDS Next Generation Media; PlayAbility Scale Board/Parent’s Choice Foundation; The Ultimate Block Party/Learn Now; and an NSF REESE grant titled Collaborative Research: Using Educational DVDs to Enhance Preschooler’s STEM Education. She previously served on the National Advisory Child Health and Human Development Council, the Children’s Digital Media Center Advisory Board, and the National Association for Media Literacy Education.

With so many accolades to her credit, Rosemarie remembers her roots as a Douglass College student, where she found her passion for early childhood education, and credits her professors and advisors with encouraging her to pursue her graduate degrees. She shows her engagement by attending and participating in numerous AADC events, where she speaks to and with so many sister alumnae. For Rosemarie, E is for a very engaged alumna!