UA News

Higher education professor Jeffrey Milem and Patricia L. Anders, a language, reading and culture professor, have each received an endowed professorship.

Two University of Arizona College of Education faculty members have been named to endowed professorship positions, which is an indiction of their exemplary teaching and research.

Jeffrey Milem, a professor in the Center for the Study of Higher Education, is the recipient of The Ernest W. McFarland Distinguished Professorship in Leadership for Education Policy and Reform.

In a memo announcing the professorships, College of Education Dean Ronald Marx said both Milem and Patricia L. Anders are "stellar" faculty members with expansive accomplishments and obvious devotion to their respective fields.

Milem, who also serves as associate dean of education, has centered his research on educational policy across the nation and in Arizona. He is widely published and is considered an expert on issues related to educational attainment and racial dynamics and disaparities in higher education.

"The existing disparities in educational attainment across racial and ethnic groups are one of the key challenges that policymakers face," Marx noted. "If not altered, the implications of these disparities will become even more severe in the future, given the demographic trends facing our nation and especially our state."

Milem contributed to two of the three books that Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor cited in her majority opinion during the Grutter v. Bollinger case, noting that they were influential in documenting the claim regarding the educational benefits of diversity.

Milem's professorship will allow him to work on larger research projects that have an even greater impact on what is understood about key questions facing policymakers. Also, the position will provide the opportunity for students to become involved in his research.

Also awarded a professorship is Patricia L. Anders, a professor in the department of language, reading, and culture. Anders is the recipient of the Jewell M. Lewis Distinguished Professorship in Reading.

Anders' work focuses on improving the literacy rate and the educational level of U.S. students.

Elected to the Reading Hall of Fame, an international organization of scholars, Anders’ research explains how people read and how teachers and reading specialists support the development of literacy.

She also has evaluated the best ways to prepare and support teachers and reading specialists, especially in middle schools, high schools and in junior colleges. Her work has influenced discussions about the field of adolescent literacy and curriculum development.

"Her research and publications are on the cutting edge of the development of the field of adolescent literacy," Marx noted.

For Anders, the endowed professorship will allow her to take a leadership role in finding funding opportunities for reading research and collaborating with colleagues in the UA and statewide.