OmniTRAX/Broe Quest Series
Dr. Donald J. Treffinger
President, Centre for Creative Learning, Inc. & Editor, Parenting for High Potential magazine
Dr. Donald J. Treffinger is President of the Centre for Creative Learning, Inc., in Sarasota, Florida, and Editor of Parenting for High Potential magazine (a quarterly publication of the National Association for Gifted Children).
Treffinger was educated in the public elementary and secondary schools in Buffalo, NY, in which city he was born on March 9, 1941. He received the B.S. cum laude, in Elementary Education and Sociology in June 1961 from Buffalo State College, the M.S. (1967) and Ph.D. (1969) in Educational Psychology from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.
Treffinger has taught at the elementary and junior high school level, as well as at the University level. He has been a member of the Educational Psychology and Research faculty at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, IN (1968-1972), and at the University of Kansas, in Lawrence, KS, where he served as Professor and Chairman of the Educational Psychology and Research Department from 1972-1978. He served as Professor of Creative Studies, and Director of the graduate program in creativity and innovation, at Buffalo State College, in Buffalo, NY from 1978-1995.
He received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association for Gifted Children in 1984, and NAGC’s E. Paul Torrance Creativity Award in 1995. In 2005, he received the Risorgimento Award for contributions to creativity from Destination ImagiNation, Inc., and the Creativity Research Award from the World Council on Gifted and Talented Children.
Treffinger’s research, writing, and teaching have focused on assessing and nurturing creativity, Creative Problem Solving, and talent development. He is the author or co-author of approximately 60 books and monographs, including: Thinking Tools Lessons and Thinking Tool Guides; The Creative Problem Solver’s Toolbox; Creative Problem Solving: An Introduction; Creative Approaches to Problem Solving; Thinking With Standards: Preparing for Tomorrow; and, Expanding and Enhancing Gifted Programs: The Levels of Service Approach.
Treffinger is also a co-author of VIEW: An Assessment of Problem Solving Style and the author or co-author of more than 300 journal articles, book chapters, essays, and reviews. His work on creativity and talent development has appeared in the Creativity Research Journal, the Journal of Creative Behavior, the Phi Delta Kappan, Educational Leadership, and numerous other journals in education, gifted education, and psychology. He served as Editor of the Gifted Child Quarterly from 1980-84, and is currently a member of that journal’s editorial board. He has also served as a reviewer for the Creativity Research Journal, the Journal of Creative Behavior, and several journals in educational psychology and research.
Treffinger has been a popular speaker, consultant, and workshop leader, having made presentations or conducted programs throughout the United States, Canada, Singapore, Sweden, Norway, and several other countries.