Dr. James P. Comer received the Dr. Walter McAfee Lifetime Achievement Award from the Connecticut NAACP on September 17, 2015 at The First Cathedral, Bloomfield, Connecticut. Theresa Hopkins-Staten, vice chairperson of the Connecticut State Board of Education, presented Dr. Comer with the award during a symposium to promote Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) as viable feeder systems for Connecticut and other states that want to recruit more teachers of color.
Ms. Hopkins-Staten said that "Dr. Comer has been a pioneer in the field of education reform for more than a half a century. His unrelenting advocacy for the application of child development principles when endeavoring to improve the academic performance of children from poor and socially neglected communities has been transformative in those schools and districts that dare to embrace his model of success. Dr. Comer is a man of many qualities yet, the one that always stands out for me is the humble and unassuming way that he wears his innumerable accomplishments. A rare and endearing quality for an extraordinary man."