New Endowed Professorship in Literacy
Established at the College of Education

Human Development Professor John T. Guthrie Named Jean Mullan Professor of Literacy

COLLEGE PARK, MD (November 2006) – Improving literacy in American schools is a complex and challenging issue. Research in this critical field will be further advanced with the establishment of the Jean Mullan Professorship in Literacy at the University of Maryland, College of Education. This is the first endowed professorship within the college.

The new Jean Mullan Professorship in Literacy has been endowed through a generous $500,000 gift by Jean Mullan, a College of Education alumnus (’68) and chair of the College of Education Campaign Cabinet. The fund provides significant support each year for an esteemed scholar to conduct literacy-related research to improve education throughout all grades in American schools.

John T. Guthrie

Professor John T. Guthrie, Ph.D., is the inaugural Jean Mullan Professor of Literacy. An endowed professorship is one of the highest honors a college can bestow, and is reserved for an eminent scholar whose work substantially advances the discipline. The endowed professorship brings a new level of prestige to Maryland’s highly ranked College of Education.

"A gift like this supports the College of Education’s goal to retain great faculty and attract outstanding graduate students who want to conduct research with a remarkable scholar like Dr. Guthrie," said Interim Dean, Dennis M. Kivlighan, Jr.

Guthrie, a professor in the Department of Human Development, is director of the Maryland Literacy Research Center at the University of Maryland. His research emphasizes children’s motivation for reading. Guthrie is a recipient of the Oscar Causey Award for Outstanding Reading Research, a member of the International Reading Association Hall of Fame, and the 2004 recipient of the University System of Maryland’s Regents Award for research/scholarship/creative activity. (See bio below)

Jean Mullan

"To be named the Jean Mullan Professor in Literacy is extremely special, it is a real culmination and recognition of the research I’ve done with many outstanding colleagues," Guthrie said. "I recognize the power of this gift—research into reading and literacy is my way to advance the cause to help others, especially children."

The professorship's benefactor, Jean Mullan, is passionate in her belief that support for the College of Education has a lasting and positive impact on the lives of children. A former classroom educator, civic volunteer, and mother, Mullan has served as an advocate for education at all levels. (See bio below)

"My investment in the College of Education and its faculty is anchored in my belief that education truly transforms lives and opens many doors for kids," Mullan said. "I understand from firsthand experience the value of literacy, especially in young children. My hope is that my gift will help the college to remain at the forefront in research that addresses motivation and engagement in reading and that many generations of students will benefit from the good work of Dr. Guthrie and his colleagues."

Mullan served as President of the College of Education's Alumni Chapter Board of Directors from the spring of 1992 until July 2006. In her leadership position as Chair of the College of Education Campaign Cabinet she works with a volunteer group of alumni and friends to increase understanding and awareness of the value of investing in the college.

The University's Senior Vice President and Provost, William Destler, recognized the establishment of the endowed professorship and Guthrie's appointment as the Jean Mullan Professor of Literacy at a special luncheon on Nov. 3. The gift from Mullan is among several significant gifts to the college in support of the Great Expectations campaign.

Great Expectations: the Campaign for Maryland is a landmark effort to raise a record $1 billion in private support, the largest goal ever pursued by a public institution in the state of Maryland and the Washington, D.C. area. The philanthropic investments of this campaign will provide support to fund student scholarships, recruit and retain top faculty, enhance physical facilities and library and technology resources and reinforce excellence and innovation in academic programs. This support will help make the University of Maryland a truly great research university; an institution with global reach and impact.

John T. Guthrie
John T. Guthrie, Ph.D., is the inaugural Jean Mullan Professor of Literacy in the Department of Human Development and Director of the Maryland Literacy Research Center. His research emphasizes children's motivation for reading. He developed a theory of reading engagement that specifies the joint functioning of motivation with language, knowledge, and cognition necessary for reading. Across the age span from age 5 to adult, he has tested this engagement theory quantitatively with structural equation modeling (SEM), hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), path analysis, meta-analysis, and experimental contrasts. Controlling for multiple background variables across ages, predictive and experimental evidence shows that as reading engagement increases reading achievement, dispositions and behaviors increase positively.

To apply this model to practical challenges of schooling, Guthrie constructed the framework of Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI), which integrates science (especially life sciences) with reading and writing. Science observations and experiments motivate students to gain knowledge through reading, and reading spurs conceptual thinking needed for learning. Through multiple experiments published in Reading Research Quarterly, Elementary School Journal, and Journal of Educational Psychology, he has shown that CORI outperforms strong control groups in children's reading, engagement, and motivation. His book, Motivating Reading Comprehension, published by Erlbaum, interprets these findings for wider audiences.

Guthrie has served on research agenda-setting panels for the U.S. Department of Education (RAND), NIH (NICHD panel on literacy), and NSF (Interagency Education Research Initiative) to communicate the engagement model of reading development. From these panels, agencies have allocated $220 million for new research initiatives. From 1992 to 1997, he co-directed a $10.7 million national center at the University of Maryland and now directs a $4.2 million grant to compare educational interventions in Maryland schools based on his theoretical model. These studies seek to foster the improvement of children's reading comprehension. In 2006-07, Guthrie is conducting a national study of how to increase children's interest in reading with a grant from Reading is Fundamental (RIF). From 2006-2010, he will serve on the executive board of a 35-country international study of reading achievement and motivation sponsored by OECD.

Guthrie is a recipient of the Oscar Causey Award for Outstanding Reading Research, a member of the International Reading Association Hall of Fame, and the 2004 recipient of the University System of Maryland's Regent's Award for research/scholarship/creative activity.

Jean Mullan
Jean Mullan is a longtime friend and advocate for the University of Maryland and the College of Education. She earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education from the college in 1968. After her graduation she became a classroom teacher at Cherokee Lane Elementary School in Adelphi, MD., Prince George's County for two years. She continued teaching second graders when she moved to White Plains, N.Y., and earned graduate credits while teaching second, third and fourth grades. She and her family made their home in several cities throughout the country until moving back to Maryland in 1997.

As she raised her family, she found time to be an active volunteer and leader in various organizations including serving as a Cub Scout den mother and pack leader, and worked as a classroom assistant at various schools. A committed civic volunteer, she has served in various leadership capacities in organizations that represent her interests in child welfare, gardening, education, and culture.

Her devotion to the Terps is family centered as her father is an alumnus of the University of Maryland. Upon her return to the Maryland, she took advantage of the opportunity to become personally involved with her alma mater. She generously supported the university's last fundraising campaign, Bold Vision, Bright Future. She is an avid basketball fan – perhaps because she went to school with Gary Williams and watched him play basketball!

At the urging of former dean, Edna Mora Szymanski, she became engaged with the College of Education because she recognized the college's need for active and committed alumni involvement. Among her first volunteer activities was to host an alumni focus groups at her home. The purpose of those meetings in late 2001 and early 2002 was to gather opinions from a wide array of alumni to gauge potential interest in bringing together a new and energized College of Education Alumni Chapter.

Mullan agreed to serve as the new board's first president, leading the board to focus on supporting college initiatives, planning and attending events, encouraging participation as alumni association memberships. Among her roles was to offer remarks at the college's fall and spring commencement ceremonies, where she shakes each graduate's hand and welcome the college's "newest" alumni. She rarely misses an opportunity to advocate for the college, contributing to improved awareness of the College of Education and its active alumni chapter. Under her leadership and encouragement, the young alumni committee worked to secure IKEA furnishings to upgrade the student lounge, served as an advisor and columnist to launch Endeavors, the college's newsletter for alumni and friends to help connect with the college's 30,000-plus alumni.

In July 2006, she moved from her role with the alumni board to become Chair of the College of Education Campaign Cabinet, a volunteer group of alumni and friends who are helping to increase understanding, awareness, and the value of investing in the college as part of the Great Expectations campaign. Mullan is currently serving on the search committee for the new dean of the college.

She is passionate in her belief that support for the College of Education has a lasting and positive impact on the lives of children. While serving as president of the alumni chapter, she made a generous gift of $100,000 in the spring of 2003. At that time, it was the largest private individual gift to the College of Education. Her gift of $500,000 was designated to establish The Jean Mullan Professorship in Literacy.

The College of Education will honor Mullan on Nov. 16, 2006, by presenting her with the Outstanding Service to the College of Education Award.