Ray Reutzel joins small group of honored reading experts
Utah State University professor D. Ray Reutzel, who serves as the Emma Eccles Jones Endowed Chair of Early Childhood Education, was inducted into the International Reading Hall of Fame recently at the International Reading Association’s annual conference.
Reutzel is the first inductee to the Reading Hall of Fame from the state of Utah. Since the founding of the Reading Hall of Fame in 1973, he is one of only 16 inducted scholars west of the Mississippi River. Current Reading Hall of Fame membership is comprised of 116 scholars, 25 international and only 91 members in the United States.
“This is a very prestigious award,” said Yetta Goodman, co-historian of the Reading Hall of Fame. “Recipients of this award represent the world’s finest researchers on an international level.”
Six members were inducted this year representing prominent institutions such as Vanderbilt University, The University of Tennessee and international research centers in the United Kingdom.
“I am extremely honored to be inducted,” said Reutzel, a professor of early childhood literacy education in the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services. “From my dissertation to now, I have worked hard to publish many national and internationally published works, including books, journal articles and textbook chapters, many of which have become standards of practice in American classrooms. This award comes with a profound sense of international recognition and personal accomplishment.”
To be inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame, nominees must have a minimum of at least 25 years of active involvement in work in reading. The nominee must be widely known and respected by people in the profession and have an exemplary portfolio of contributions, such as authorship of publications on reading, including reports of significant research. The person must also exhibit performance in positions of responsibility in the field of reading and participate in professional activities such as speaking, organizing programs, and consulting or assisting teachers in other ways.
Reutzel is the author of more than 185 refereed and invited research reports, articles, books, book chapters and monographs published in “The Reading Teacher,” “Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy,” “Reading Research Quarterly,” “Journal of Literacy Research,” “Early Childhood Research Quarterly,” “The Elementary School Journal,” “Journal of Educational Research,” “Reading Psychology,” “Literacy Research and Instruction” and “Language Arts.”
He has received $8 million in research and professional development funding from private, state and federal funding agencies over the length of his career.
He is the past editor of “Literacy Research and Instruction,” the journal of the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER), and “The Reading Teacher,” the elementary section journal of the International Reading Association. He is author or co-author of 33 textbooks and academic books. He is author or coauthor of research handbook chapters published in the “Handbook of Classroom Management,” “Handbook of Research on Literacy and Diversity” and the “Handbook of Reading Research,” Vol. IV. He was a senior author of two editions of Scholastic Incorporated’s “Literacy Place” school reading program, which were adopted in schools across the U.S., Canada and in the U.S. Department of Defense Schools worldwide.
Reutzel received the 1999 A.B. Herr Award from the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers for outstanding research and published contributions to reading education. He has served as president of the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers in 2007. He was recognized as a recipient of the College of Education’s 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyo.
He received the 2007 D. Wynne Thorne Outstanding Career University Researcher Award recipient from USU. Reutzel was presented the John C. Manning Public School Service Award from the International Reading Association in May 2007. He has served as a past member of the board of directors of the International Reading Association from 2007-2010.