Norman A. Stahl, Professor Emeritus and former chair of the Literacy Education Department, was inducted July 16 into the Reading Hall of Fame.
The honor – one of the highest the literacy field can grant an individual – came during the annual convention of the International Literacy Association.
Established in 1973, the Reading Hall of Fame contributes, from the collective experiences of its members, to further improvement in reading instruction. Stahl’s colleague, Jerry Johns, was inducted in 2015.
Stahl received his Ph.D. from the Program in Language Communications at the University of Pittsburgh.
Previous to his doctoral work he earned degrees at San Francisco State University (M.A.-Interdisciplinary Studies in Education and B.A.-History), and the City College of San Francisco (A.A.-History).
Currently, he is a Professor Emeritus of Literacy Education at NIU, where he served for more than a decade as chair of the Department of Literacy Education. He also served as chair of the Curriculum and Instruction Department, director of the College Reading and Learning Program and director of the Learning Research Laboratory. He is an affiliate of the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language and Literacy.
He has authored or co-authored more than 125 publications, has served on several editorial advisory boards and has been active in a number of professional organizations.
Along with his colleagues, Stahl was the recipient of the Distinguished Research Award from the College Reading and Learning Association. The team also was recognized for authoring the Outstanding Article for Volume 16 of the Journal of Developmental Education. In addition, this team was awarded the Outstanding Publication Award from the National Association of Developmental Education as well as the award for the outstanding article to appear in Research and Teaching in Developmental Education by the New York College Learning Skills Association.
Stahl’s current scholarly work includes an analysis of the role reading plays in the academic (general education) culture and CTE programs of community colleges, an academic life history of Francis P. Robinson, a content analysis of IRW texts and the historical study of the Golden Age of College Reading Instruction (1929-1946).
