In 1988, the Iowa Regents’ Center for Early Developmental Education was established by the State of Iowa’s legislators (Senate file 2295: 262.71).  The University of Northern Iowa was chosen to house the center.  Judith Finkelstein, Ph.D., was named as its first Director.  She had been teaching at the Malcolm Price Laboratory School for the previous twenty years developing the multi-age Nursery/Kindergarten program and in the 1st Grade.  

She became a Fellow at the Iowa Regents’ Center and for the next twenty years taught Early Childhood courses in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.  She taught the first Head Start program in Cedar Falls, served on the Board of the National Council for Social Studies, and the Board of the National Program for Play Ground Safety.  She retired in 2008 and has continued to actively support the staff and the work of the Iowa Regents’ Center.