Three psychologists whose work has focused on the benefits of preschool are the winners of the 2008 Grawemeyer Award for Education, the University of Louisville has announced.

The $200,000 prize will be shared by Walter S. Gilliam, an assistant professor of child psychiatry and psychology at Yale University; Edward F. Zigler, a professor emeritus of psychology at Yale; and Stephanie M. Jones, an assistant professor of psychology at Fordham University.

The three scholars are being recognized for ideas laid out in their 2006 book, A Vision for Universal Preschool Education (Cambridge University Press). In the book, which is based on four decades of research, they argue that the adoption of a universal preschool education program in the United States would improve the school readiness of young children. They also say it would lower high-school dropout rates, reduce crime, and bolster the economy.

The award for education is one of five annual Grawemeyer prizes presented in recognition of achievements in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The winners of the awards for music, psychology, and “ideas improving world order” were announced earlier this week.

The awards were established in 1984 by H. Charles Grawemeyer, an industrialist and University of Louisville alumnus. More information about the Grawemeyer Awards and the Grawemeyer Foundation at the University of Louisville is available on the organization’s Web site. —Jason M. Breslow