Jean Osman, Reading Center Co-Founder and Champion of dyslexic learners

Jean Osman played a foundational in building The Reading Center from an unassuming office in the Rome family basement in Rochester into the thriving organization that it is today.  Jean Osman died on May 17, 2020 at the age of 90 and her legacy lives on through the work of The Reading Center’s many staff and tutors. 

Jean Osman was recruited and trained by Paula Rome in 1956 to help her teach struggling readers using the Orton-Gillingham approach, a teaching approach developed by neuropsychiatrist Dr. Samuel Orton and psychologist Anna Gillingham.  Together Paula Rome and Jean Osman founded The Reading Center/Dyslexia Institute of Minnesota, a not-for-profit organization that has been teaching dyslexic people to read for nearly 70 years. 

In 1990, Jean Osman became Executive Director of The Reading Center when Paula Rome retired, where she remained until  in 2005.  During Jean’s retirement, she was a prolific tutor, with as many as 14 students at one time.  She was a trailblazer in providing Orton-Gillingham tutoring online because she saw it as a critical way to reach students who did not live near an Orton-Gillingham tutor.

Jean served on The Reading Center’s Board of Directors as Director Emeritus from 2005 – 2020 and assisted with The Reading Center’s Orton-Gillingham training well after her retirement, serving as a program consultant to The Reading Center for several years in order to nurture future generations of Orton-Gillingham tutors. 

Jean was a trailblazer for regional and national organizations that work for students with dyslexia.  She was a force behind the creation of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators from its conception in 1991, to its inception in 1995.  Jean was a Founding Fellow of the Academy and she served on its Board of Directors from 1995 to 2013.  Jean Osman also co-founded the Upper Midwest Branch of the International Dyslexia Association with Paula Rome and served as its president.  Jean Osman served as the Vice-President of the IDA (national) and served on its Board of Directors from 1980 – 1986.  She was awarded the Margaret Byrd Rawson Lifetime Achievement Award of the IDA in 2002.

Jean Osman was influential in educating struggling students both near and far. Jean taught Orton-Gillingham at Winona State University, tested and taught students at Carleton College and tutored at the Federal Medical Facility in Rochester, Minnesota.  Jean Osman was a national presenter on dyslexia, conducted trainings internationally, led simulations, and developed The Reading Center’s Institute trainings and its Best of Basics Summer program. 

Jean Osman and Paula Rome have the distinction of authoring groundbreaking books about applying the Orton-Gillingham approach to teach dyslexic people to read, “The Language Tool Kit” and the “Advanced Language Tool Kit (Teaching the Structure of the English Language)”.   These books remain the go-to books for how to teach people with language learning difficulties.

Jean Osman was known for her deep commitment to The Reading Center’s motto: Toward Literacy for All.  Her tireless dedication to this work is reflected in the success of The Reading Center as an organization that leads the way in instruction for people with dyslexia. Jean Osman’s legacy lives on in the many students whose lives she enriched and in the teachers who practice the skills she taught.

Drake Duane, former Mayo neurologist and past IDA President said of Jean Osman:

Jean was the epitome of what a mentor should be: kind, caring, nurturing, competent. She set an example for us all who work with the developmentally unique. I, all who knew her as colleague or student will miss this modest, gentle woman.

Jean Osman personally tested nearly 3,000 students who struggled to read, tutored 143 students and trained 1,200 adults in the approach used by The Reading Center during her 64 years with The Reading Center/Dyslexia Institute of Minnesota.

Career Highlights

• 1956: Joined Paula Rome as co-founder of The Reading Center

• 1968: Co-founded the International Dyslexia Association, Upper Midwest Branch (formerly the Samuel Orton Society)

• Board President, International Dyslexia Association, Upper Midwest Branch

• 1980-1986: Board Member/Vice President of the National International Dyslexia Association

• 1990-2005: Reading Center Executive Director

• 2005-2020: Director Emeritus, Reading Center Board of Directors

• Founding Fellow of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators

• 1995-2013: Board of Directors, Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators  

• 2002: recipient of the Margaret Byrd Rawson Lifetime Achievement Award, International Dyslexia Association

Publications

• “The Language Tool Kit,” (Jean S. Osman and Paula D. Rome, 1972)

• “Advanced Language Tool Kit,” (Jean S. Osman and Paula D. Rome, 1999)

Cards and Notes for the Osman Family

If you wish to send a note or card to the Osman family, you can send it to: Family of Jean Osman, c/o The Reading Center at: 2010 Scott Road NW, Rochester, MN 55901 or to read@thereadingcenter.org

Jean Osman Scholarship Fund

Per the wishes of the Osman Family, any donations can be made to the Jean Osman Scholarship Fund at The Reading Center. Donations are accepted by mail at 2010 Scott Road NW, Rochester, MN 55901, by phone at 507-288-5271 or online at the link below.

A memorial service will be planned by the family at a later date, possibly this summer.