Susan is an assistant professor at the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio. Because of her interests in reading research and history-related publications, she will increase her time in this area during the coming year and complete several research-related publications. Her most recent publication is her coeditorship with E. Jennifer Monaghan of Shaping the Reading Field: The Impact of Early Reading Pioneers, Scientific Research, and Progressive Ideas (forthcoming).  She is also working on editing a comprehensive volume, with Gerald G. Duffy of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, tentatively titled The Handbook of Research on Reading Comprehension, to be published by Lawrence Erlbaum in 2008. Other projects include:  Literacy Goals:  A Teaching Resource to Increase Student Motivation and Learning Through Self-Reflection, to be published by Christopher-Gordon Publishers (Israel, 2007), and Early Reading First and Beyond, to be published by Corwin Press (Israel, 2007).  She is currently working on reviewing the theoretical and historical research related to reading comprehension and instruction, as well as child-mind development (sueisrael@insightbb.com). 

Paul is an associate professor of literacy at St. Bonaventure University, New York. He has held several administrative positions there, including Chair of the Elementary Education Department (6 years), Dean of the School of Education (17 years), and Chair of the Literacy Department (24 years). Outside of academe, Paul has served on the local board of education (15 years) and is currently a sitting county legislator. His main academic interests include the history of reading instruction, children’s literature, and Inuit folktales. He has published articles in such journals as The Horn Book, The Reading Teacher, and The School Library Journal and is currently working on a book titled The History and Influence of Children’s Libraries in the United States. Our readers will recall his article, with Eleanor B. English, on “Eating Fingers” and other Alaskan tales printed in the spring, 2006, issue of the History of Reading News (pp. 2-5) (pschafer@sbu.edu). 

Ruth is professor of literacy education at Bridgewater State College in southeastern Massachusetts. She is coordinator of the graduate Reading/Literacy programs leading to the Master of Education (M.Ed.) and Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (C.A.G.S.). She also directs Learning Assistance Services in Study and Research in providing academic support services for undergraduates. Her current work in teacher education draws from more than two decades of experience as a K-12 teacher and reading specialist. In 2002, in pursuit of her research interests in discourse as central to critical pedagogy, Ruth began working in peripheral ways with adult and undergraduate education programs at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. She has returned for a month each year to study literacy education in post-apartheid South Africa. This year, Ruth helped direct a grant-funded project in school-based professional development involving 50 teachers and 150 school children in the township of Sobantu. (See Ruth’s article on this topic in the fall, 2005, issue of the History of Reading News, pp. 1-2, 5-6) (rfarrar@bridgew.edu). 

Karla is an assistant professor of language and literacy at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her interests revolve around the use of children's literature as a key aspect of literacy instruction in classrooms in the past and present. This focus has led to her long-term relationship with a local elementary school, where she conducts literacy research in collaboration with the teachers, students, and principal. Karla's most recent publication explores the work of Bernice E. Leary, an early 20^th-century leader in using literature to teach reading; it is included in Shaping the Reading Field: The Impact of Early Reading Pioneers, Scientific Research, and Progressive Ideas (Israel & Monaghan, eds., in press with the IRA). Other work related to the history of reading includes her current paper on the history of picture books for children that feature gay/lesbian parents and family members. She has publications in a range of journals, such as Language Arts and the Journal of Literacy Research (kjmoller@ad.uiuc.edu).

Dixie teaches at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. Her research interests include comprehension instruction, preservice teacher education, and the history of literacy. She recently authored a chapter on Raymond Dodge for the upcoming book Shaping the Reading Field: The Impact of Early Reading Pioneers, Scientific Research, and Progressive Ideas, published by the International Reading Association (ddmassey@comcast.net).

Doug is an associate professor of literacy education at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education.  He received his doctorate from the University of New Hampshire after working in a program founded by writing educators Donald Graves and Donald Murray.  Doug’s interest in history was whetted during his doctoral work, when he began to read the classic works of major philosophers of education, including Rousseau and Dewey.  Doug has recently co-authored, with Doug Hartman, “Reflections on the Early Reading Pioneers and Their Biographers,” a chapter that will appear in the forthcoming IRA publication, Shaping the Reading Field: The Impact of Early Reading Pioneers, Scientific Research, and Progressive Ideas.  He is currently conducting biographical research on Hughes Mearns, a pioneer of writing education during the first half of the twentieth century (Douglas.kaufman@uconn.edu).

Since 1997, Lou Ann has been the director of the Learning Resources Center at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, the home of the writing center, study skills, tutoring, and disability services. Since 1989, she has also taught composition at the college level. In September 2006, she defended her dissertation, “The International Reading Association Within the Context of United States Educational History, 1900 to 2006,” and will graduate in December with a Ph.D. in Reading Education from the University of Pittsburgh. Douglas K. Hartman's 2001 course, “The History of Reading Research and Instruction,” sparked her interest in the history of literacy. She and Doug have co-authored a history of the International Reading Association and four e-books relevant to the history of literacy, which can be found at www.historyliteracy.org under “Publications.” She has a chapter on Edward Lee Thorndike in Shaping the Reading Field: The Impact of Early Reading Pioneers, Scientific Research, and Progressive Ideas, currently in press with the IRA (los3+@pitt.edu).

School of Education
P.O. Box 76
St. Bonaventure, NY 14778 USA
(716) 375-2388 (work)
(716) 375-2360 (fax)
jezimmer@sbu.edu
http://sched.sbu.edu/faculty/jezimmer/index.html

Scholarly Interests:

• Social History of Reading in the United States since 1890
• History of Reading Issues in Popular Magazines
• Social and Political Forces in the History of Literacy