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Northern Illinois University

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Norman A. Stahl
Norman A. Stahl

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News Release

Contact: Mark McGowan, NIU Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-9472

September 14, 2005

Chair of NIU Department of Literacy Education
elected president of National Reading Conference

DeKalb — Norman A. Stahl, professor and chair of Northern Illinois University's Department of Literacy Education, has been elected president of the National Reading Conference.

Stahl will serve one year as vice president, one year as president-elect and one year as president of the NRC, which is dedicated to promoting literacy research, theory and best practice with membership worldwide.

He takes office in December.

Stahl, who came to the NIU College of Education in 1986, said “it is a great honor to be elected to such a post by the research community in the field of literacy.”

“Never before has there been greater need for scholarly discourse and action focused on literacy theory and research in the United States and in the other countries with members in the NRC. I look forward to working with colleagues from across the nation and around the world in promoting the goals of the NRC as the field's research organization,” he said.

“The National Reading Conference has been my professional home for my entire career,” he added. “I have had the privilege of serving on numerous committees, been the chair of the Policies and Legislative Committee, served as the NRC historian and been a member of the Board of Directors.”

Stahl also was president of the College Reading Association and chair of the Board of Directors of the American Reading Forum, and he has served on numerous committees of the International Reading Association and other professional organizations. He has given more than 200 presentations and workshops for professional organizations, postsecondary institutions, and school systems across the country.

He has more than 100 publications focusing primarily on postsecondary reading and the history of reading instruction including the recent text, “Teaching Developmental Reading,” from Bedford/St. Martin's Press.

In addition, he has been the recipient of the Distinguished Research Award from the College Reading and Learning Association, the Outstanding Publication Award from the National Association of Developmental Education and the award for Outstanding Writing in the Field of College Reading and Study Skills from the College Reading Improvement Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association.

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