Donna Alvermann, research professor in reading education, was invited as Lansdowne Lecturer at the University of Victoria in British Columbia April 3-9. She presented a lecture titled, "Developing Critical Awareness of Popular Media Texts: Practices, Pitfalls, and Possibilities."  The lectureship is sponsored through an endowment fund administered by the Canadian university.

Alvermann was recently named co-editor of Reading Research Quarterly, one of the most important and widely circulated international research journals in the field of education, along with her UGA colleague, David Reinking, professor and department head of reading education.

Among the many honors she has received in her career are: Senior Scholar Special Commendation of Honor from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational Foundation, the William A. Owens Creative Research Award from UGA in 1998, an appointment as Senior Teaching Fellow by UGA from 1998-99, the Oscar S. Causey Award for Outstanding Contributions to Reading Research at the National Reading Conference in 1997, the Albert J. Kingston Award for Distinguished Service to the National Reading Conference in 1997, and the H.B. Herr Award for Contributions to Research in Reading Education from the College Reading Association in 1993.

She was appointed to the Rand Corporation/U.S. Department of Education's Reading Research Study Panel in 2000 and was elected to the Reading Hall of Fame in 1999. She was named a Spencer Research Foundation Mentor from 1997-1998 and was invited to give a 75th Anniversary Celebration Colloquium at Rutgers University Graduate School of Education in February 1999. She guest edited the Journal of Educational Research's Special Year 2000 issue on "Reading Research and Instruction," was elected chair of the board of directors of the American Reading Forum in 2000 and served as director of the College Reading Association Board from 1997-2000. She was appointed to the National Panel of Advisors for the Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts in 1997, invited by then-UGA President Charles Knapp to give the President's Lecture in 1996 and received Syracuse University's School of Education Honored Alumna Award in 1995.

She was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Standards Project for the English Language Arts in 1992 and served on the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards Committee for English Language Arts (Middle Childhood, Adolescence, and Young Adulthood) from 1992-1997. She served as president of the National Reading Conference, the largest literacy research organization in the world, from 1991-92 and was elected to Fellow Status in the National Conference on Research in English in 1990.

Alvermann joined the UGA faculty in 1982 and became a full professor in 1990. She was named a UGA research professor in 1993. She received her Ph.D. in reading and language arts education from Syracuse University, her M.L.S. in Information Sciences from Syracuse University, her M.A. in education from the University of Texas and a B.S. in education from the University of Texas.

Wednesday, May 9, 2001

Writer: Michael Childs, 706/542-5889, mchilds@coe.uga.edu
Contact: Donna Alvermann, 706/542-2718, dalverma@arches.uga.edu