Campus News

COE professor receives service award

Peter Smagorinsky, Distinguished Research Professor of English Education in the College of Education’s language and literacy education department, recently received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Council of Teachers of English for his service to the profession and distinctive use of language.

Established in 1950, the NCTE service award is given to a person who exhibits valuable professional service both within and outside the council, including scholarly or academic distinction at any level, distinguished use of language or excellence in teaching.

Smagorinsky has been involved with several NCTE/Conference on English Education mentoring programs, including the Cultivating New Voices among Scholars of Color program, which he helped establish while on the Research Foundation as well as the Ramon Veal Seminar, which he is currently co-chairing.

NCTE will honor Smagorinsky’s service to the profession Nov. 16-17 during the 2017 NCTE annual convention in St. Louis.

Smagorinsky’s research is unified by a sociocultural approach to understanding literary teaching with a focus on the study of written and artistic compositions, as well as group discussions oriented to literary interpretation and interpretive texts.