Sara Wilford

Wilford received an Outstanding Service Award from Westchester Community College in 1999. In 2009, she received a Champions for Children Leader of the Year Award, presented by the New York State Association for the Education of Young Children.

Interest in early childhood education worldwide led her to the Schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy in 1993, and to the U.S./South Africa Joint Conference on Early Childhood Education in 1996. She has presented in a seminar sponsored by the Department of Early Childhood Education at the University of Athens, Greece, and took part in a literacy delegation to New Zealand and Australia in the summer of 2000.

Wilford earned an M.S.Ed from Bank Street College of Education. She taught at Sarah Lawrence College from 1982 to 2014, where she was the director of the Art of Teaching graduate program in early childhood and childhood education from 1985 through 2014. Additionally, she was director of the college's Early Childhood Center for 21 years (1982–2003). The center, which was established in 1937 as a “laboratory school,” allows graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in child development and education courses to both study children ages 2–6 and to directly assist in their education. During her tenure, the Early Childhood Center added a class for 5- to 6-year-olds, and broadened financial aid available to the center's students’ families.

Wilford was married to Ronald A. Wilford from 1973 to his death in 2015. She was previously married to the classical pianist Anthony di Bonaventura. Before their divorce in 1972, they had five children together:

Sara Delano Roosevelt Whitney di Bonaventura Wilford (March 13, 1932 – October 22, 2021) was a psychologist who taught at Sarah Lawrence College from 1982 to 2014.