BCDD History
1950s - Association of Retarded
Citizens (the ARC) was formed.
1950s - The Maternal and Child
Health Service started prevention, delivery of health services
for children with retardation, and training of health personnel.
1955 - The U.S. Department
of Health, Education and Welfare formed the Secretary's Committee
on Mental Retardation.
1957 - The Boling Center was
established by the University of Tennessee as the Clinic for
Mentally Retarded Children at LeBonheur Children's Hospital.
Dr. Robert G. Jordan, Jr. directed the Center from its beginning
until his retirement in 1984. Under his leadership the Center
grew from a three-person, part-time clinic in the basement
of LeBonheur Children’s Hospital to a highly regarded
component of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center,
housed in its own nine-story building. Dr. Jordan brought
many millions of dollars in funding to the Center and the
University.
1963 - The Clinic for Mentally
Retarded Children was renamed The Child Development Center
to reflect the broader population served.
1966 - The University of Tennessee
Child Development Center was the nation’s first recipient
of a training grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau
of the U.S. Public Health Service, marking a change in its
mission from provision of service only to developing leaders
in the field of developmental disabilities through interdisciplinary
training. The interdisciplinary approach to service and training
was established as the clinical model.
With this grant, the University of Tennessee established
a University Affiliated Training Center, with the Child Development
Center and its staff constituting the nucleus of the training
program. Thus, the Child Development Center became the first
of 19 proposed University Affiliated Facilities, now called
University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities
Education, Research, and Service (UCEDDs), in the country.
1970 - The center moved into
a new building constructed on a grant received from the U.S.
Public Health Service.
1975 - A revision of the legislation
allowed UCEDD administrative support to come from the U.S.
Office of Social and Rehabilitation Services.
1988 - The Child Development
Center was renamed the Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities
(BCDD) to honor Dr. Edward J. Boling, the 17th president of
UT and his wife, Carolyn P. Boling.
Read about renaming The Child Development
Center after Dr. and Mrs. Boling.
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