(COLUMBIA, SC) Dr. Lynne S. Noble, Columbia College associate professor of education, is one of only 23 early childhood education leaders from around the country selected to participate in the new "Supporting Teachers, Strengthening Families National Leadership Program" created by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the program is part of an initiative to engage early childhood educators in building the kinds of supportive relationships with families that help prevent child abuse and neglect and promote children's healthy social and emotional development. The program is also part of a larger effort by NAEYC to develop a new generation of leaders in the early childhood field.

Noble joined the faculty of Columbia College in 1999, prior to which she worked in the College of Education and College of Social Work at the University of South Carolina. A graduate of the University of Michigan, she holds master's and doctoral degrees in education from the University of Virginia. She is the founder and co-director of the Adoption Center of South Carolina.

NAEYC is the largest and most influential organization of early childhood educators and others dedicated to improving the quality of early education programs for children from birth through age eight. Founded in 1926, the organization now has more than 100,000 members, along with a national network of nearly 350 local, state and regional affiliates.