Former director of Child Labs dies

Charlotte Madison, former director of the University of Connecticut Child Development Laboratories, died Dec. 23. She was 64.

Madison, of Storrs, joined the University in 1978 as a master teacher in the infant/toddler program at the Child Development Laboratories (Child Labs). From 1980 to 1983, she was the Child Labs’ associate director. In that position, in addition to her administrative duties, she supervised student teaching and field work courses and co-taught a morning kindergarten program. She later became executive director. In that position, she gave seminars, lectured on music education and early literacy, and taught courses on childhood and adolescence. She retired in 2003.  

“Charlotte was an innovator in training for early childhood education,” says Charles Super, professor and dean of the School of Family Studies.

“She was a dedicated program director who cared deeply and worked tirelessly for the undergraduates in her classes and the children in her charge. She will be sorely missed by family and friends, the early childhood profession, and by a full generation of Child Labs families and graduates.”

Anne Bladen, interim director of the Child Labs, says she and Charlotte were good friends both in and out of work. “Charlotte loved children, literacy and music, and was passionate about sharing that with college students,” Bladen says. “She was a good soul.”

Donna Jones was her neighbor and friend. She says that when they met, they “quickly bonded. We both had a passion for gardening, and we turned our lawns into a park,” Jones says. “Charlotte was a gentle, kind, loving person.”