Established July 1999

Ashland Inc. endowed this chair in early childhood education in memory of Raphael O. "Ray" Nystrand, former dean of the School of Education (now the College of Education and Human Development) who died in May 1999. Nystrand had served as the school's dean since 1978.

The chair funds salary and expenses associated with the teaching, research and scholarship of the director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Research on Early Childhood Issues and Initiatives. The multi-disciplinary center studies the development of children from birth to age 5.

The Ashland Inc. Foundation seeks to improve the quality of education from kindergarten through the university level and gives more than 60 percent of its annual income to educational projects and institutions.