Bill Cosby and child psychiatrist Alvin Poussaint will be at Tufts University this week.

By Cathleen Twardzik

Bill Cosby is coming to Somerville. The comedian who has strengthened family ties through laughter in his stand-up routines, comedy albums and hit television show will be honored Feb. 25 at Tufts University.

Cosby’s contributions will be remembered alongside renowned psychiatrist, educator and social commentator Alvin F. Poussaint of Harvard University at the Distler Performance Hall at the Granoff Music Center on Tufts University’s Somerville campus at 10 a.m.

The free event is open to the public.

The Eliot-Pearson Awards for Excellence, co-sponsored by the Communications and Media Studies Program (CMS) and the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development at Tufts, are given biennially to organizations, individuals or companies, all of whom possess a commitment to innovation, diversity, non-violence and developmentally-appropriate media.

Each year, the committee selects recipients by “[looking] for media that embody good humor, intelligence and good production values.  They look for media that are both educational and entertaining, and for individuals or organizations whose work reflects these values,” said Julie Dobrow, Director of the Communications & Media Studies Program at Tufts University.

Alvin F. Poussaint.

The Ruggles Street Nursery School was established in Boston to serve children, all of whom were living in poverty, according to her.

That school was one of the first such training programs in the country, and it became affiliated with Tufts University. At present, it is the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, which is part of the School of Arts and Sciences.

“Bill Cosby was a natural choice for this award, based on his ability to educate audiences through humor and compassion, as was Alvin Poussaint, for his understanding of children’s developmental differences,” she said.

Cosby, is best known as the producer and star of The Cosby Show. He has been a long-time advocate of education and holds a doctorate in that field. For over 50 years, he has used his stardom to strengthen families via his comedy routines, acting and bestselling books, such as Fatherhood.

Poussaint, an administrator and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, is an expert about race relations, families and parenting, as well as his being a crusader, in the fight against exploitation of children in the media. He has also taught at the Tufts School of Medicine.

Importantly, Poussaint served as a production consultant to The Cosby Show and consults to the media, regarding a wide-range of social issues, including the needs of children and the changing family. He currently serves as senior advisor for the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and previously was the media center director for the Harvard-affiliated Judge Baker Children’s Center.

Former recipients of the Eliot-Pearson Awards for Excellence include: Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh and Cathy Galeota, all of whom are Producers of Dora the Explorer — an American-animated television series. Linda Ellerbee and Mark Lyons, Executive Producers of the educational children’s and teenagers’ television show Nick News for Kids have also been honored.

To round it out, Peggy Charren, Founder of Action for Children’s Television, which is an activist group, and Carol Greenwald, Executive Producer of Arthur — an educational television series, have snagged the award.