In the course of his professional career, he has been a student, a counselor, a teacher of children with varying special education labels, a professor of special education, a developer of programs, an advocate, an editor, a researcher, and an administrator. He has been fortunate to have grown up in a time when he could do things that he values. The professional activities of which Dr. Coleman is most proud are creating with colleagues from three different fields an innovative teacher preparation program made on the model of teaching as a talent; building the Summer Institute for Gifted Children in 1980, which has been "taken over" by the original students who attended it; writing a few papers that he hopes are new contributions to his field; and continuing to be excited by his work.