Sara Downing Taylor

Sara Downing Taylor was born in 1930, to A.C. and Katie Burton Downing in Glasgow, Kentucky, as the youngest of seven children. From her early years in Horse Cave, Kentucky, through her high school years in Dunbar, West Virginia, and beyond, she was shaped by her love of family. She followed her brothers Dero and George to WKU, where she began in 1948. Her freshman year, she met Arnold G. Taylor. Following her graduation in 1952, Sara and Arnold married in 1954. Until his passing in 2013, they built a mutually supportive marriage, a loving family life, and two WKU graduates of their own, Gregory and Susan.

Sara earned an Ed.S. degree from Peabody College in 1964. She then returned to the Hill to serve on the WKU faculty in early childhood education, shaping a generation of kindergarten educators. She was a tireless advocate for play as the natural and effective mode of learning for very young children and insisted on respect and equality for all children, regardless of gender, race, or circumstance. She served as president of the Kentucky Association of Children Under Six and won several teaching awards, even after retirement. She passed away in 2018 from complications related to long-term dementia.

To honor her life and perspective, Susan and her husband, Andy, established the Sara Downing Taylor Early Childhood Education Scholarship Fund. The fund assists deserving full-time WKU students who are in the Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Program and have demonstrated commitment to equal education and wellbeing of every child, with preference given to students who demonstrate financial need. Through this fund, Sara’s legacy at WKU continues in perpetuity.