English education professor receives NCTE Distinguished Service Award

Peter Smagorinsky, Distinguished Research Professor of English Education in the department of language and literacy education, recently received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) 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.

"It's affirming to know that the research, teaching and service that I've done are getting recognized for their cumulative effect," said Smagorinsky. "I'm always happy to have service recognized, since it's something I've never been budgeted for, yet that I've done a lot of over time."

Smagorinsky has been involved with several NCTE/Conference on English Education mentoring programs, including the Cultivating New Voices among Scholars of Color (CNV) 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 this November during the 2017 NCTE Annual Convention in St. Louis.

"The Fall Convention has a teaching component, and I'm happy to see it getting acknowledged through awards like this," said Smagorinsky. "And, of course, it's always nice to have my academic contributions, mainly writing and speaking in ways that serve as a form of teaching, recognized."

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.