Graham to receive 2006 VSU Distinguished Alumnus Award

Valdosta State University has announced its 2006 Distinguished Alumnus and plans to honor Dr. Steve Graham on Homecoming Friday, October 7 at 7:30 p.m. at the Valdosta Country Club. Dr. Graham is currently the Currey-Ingram Professor of Special Education and Literacy at Vanderbilt University.

Graham graduated from Valdosta State College (VSC) in 1972 where he received his degree in Secondary Education and in 1975 received his Master's Degree in Learning Disabilities (an area of Special Education). After graduation he went on to become a teacher in the public school system in Valdosta until he decided to pursue his doctoral degree at the University of Kansas, which he completed in 1978. Graham taught at Auburn University, Purdue University and spent much of his career at the University of Maryland until 2005 when he moved to Vanderbilt.

Graham's work primarily deals with children's literacy and his research interests include learning disabilities, writing instruction and writing development, and the development of self-regulation. He has co-authored four text books on teaching children to write and has co-edited five others, with a sixth, Best Practices in Writing Instruction scheduled to be published early in 2007. Graham has published more than 150 articles in peer-reviewed professional journals. He was recognized by Contemporary Educational Psychology as the second most productive scholar in educational psychology from 1997 to 2002. In 2001, Graham was elected as a Fellow of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities. He is the recipient of the Career Research Award from the International Council for Exceptional Children, the Samuel A. Kirk Award from the Division of Learning Disabilities, the Distinguished Researcher Award from the special education interest group of the American Educational Research Association, the Don Johnston Lectureship award for Career Contributions to Literacy, and the Distinguished Scholar/Teacher Award from the University of Maryland.

Graham is the current editor of Exceptional Children and the past editor of Contemporary Educational Psychology. The books he has authored include the Handbook of Writing Research, Handbook of Learning Disabilities, Writing Better, and Making the Writing Process Work.

To see a complete listing of the extensive accomplishments of Dr. Steven Graham you can visit http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/documents/pdf/faculty/vita/graham.pdf

Graham will be presented his VSU Distinguished Alumnus Award during the annual homecoming meeting of the VSU Alumni Association. The cost of the dinner is $27 per person and reservations are required. For more information contact The Office of Alumni Relations at 229-333-5797.