Me at age 16, first row, second from left6

I'm a native Chicagoan, born and raised on the South Side. My father, a high school dropout, was a salesman; and my mother, who completed high school, was a bookkeeper. Despite their lack of formal schooling, both my parents valued and respected education and encouraged me to attend college.

College graduation 1967

So, after graduating from Bowen High School (where several of my English teachers thought I was a hopeless case), I enrolled at the University of Illinois in Chicago (at Navy Pier!).

Like the typical terrified college freshmen, I nearly dropped out before mid-term, but stayed on the advice of a friendly counselor. Then, inspired by the enthusiasm and brilliance of my freshman composition instructor, I decided to pursue a career in teaching English.

After two years UIC, I transferred to Champaign-Urbana, where I completed both my B.A. and M.A degrees. Since then, I've also taken graduate courses at a variety of universities, including the University of Chicago.

Sarah and Brad in Spain (1999)

In 1968, the same year I began my career in the City Colleges, I married Ann Meyers (she's an elementary school teacher). We have two children: Sarah, a graduate from the University of Oregon with a degree in Spanish(after living in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, she is currently a mother of an infant and a full-time masters degree in education student; and Brad, a masters degree grduate of the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, is working in the food science industry in Chicago.

My Teaching Career
(and a Bit of Bragging)

With Ann and Sarah in Costa Rica

I taught freshman composition for a year at the University of Illinois when I was just 22--not much older than my students. I then joined the English Department at Wright College and transferred to Truman College eight years later in 1976 when the new campus opened. Throughout my career, I've taught virtually every course in the catalogue, but have focused on English 100 and 101 in the last decade.

I was named Truman College Distinguished Professor for 1990-91, Truman College Outstanding Faculty Member in 1991 by the Illinois Community College Trustees Association, and Exemplary Teacher in 1989 by the American Association of Higher Education (I was the only professor from a two-year college in Illinois to receive this award). I was recently elected to the twelve-member executive committee of the Assocation of Depatments of English, the governing organization for colleges and universities in the United States. My high school English teachers would be amazed!

My Other Duties at Truman

Me with Harry S

I've been Chair of the Communications Department since 1990. In my role as Chair, I consult with my colleagues in preparing the schedule of courses and helping them select their programs. I counsel students and attempt to resolve their complaints, consult with administrators on a regular basis, and attend far more meetings than I'd like. I also serve as Director of Assessment for the college, helping faculty, administrators, and staff determine how best to improve teaching and learning in courses, departments, and prorgams.

My Writing Career

I'm the author or co-author of ten textbooks, the first of which I wrote with a colleague at Wright when I was 29. That was an odd experience as I went from "I'd like to write a book" to "Oh my God, I've signed contract I have to write a book" to "Oh my God, I've published a book, but is it any good?" My texts include one in speech communications, four in ESL (written with Ethel Tiersky, a member of the Communications Department), one in freshman composition, three in developmental English, and a brand new text called Gateways to Academic Writing. Two of my books, Writing with Confidence, and Composing with Confidence, are in their ninth and seventh editions respectively. It was only through learning to write (and write and write) that I developed a realistic notion of how to teach composition. I know how difficult but rewarding the composing process is, and I understand the pains of novices as they develop the skills and confidence to discover and refine their own writing voices.

My Teaching Philosophy and Methodology

I'm convinced that writing is more a skill than a gift, and, like all skills, it improves with practice. Writers must be given the space and time to take their drafts through many stages: from planning, to composing, to revising, to editing, and to proofreading. And since no two writers work in the same way, they must be allowed to determine the methods that serve them best and then replicate and refine those methods. I therefore structure my classes as workshops, where a community of writers can explore the composing process collaboratively in a comfortable, non-threatening environment. My students receive grades based largely on an end-of-semester portfolio, in which they choose representative samples of their best papers and explain how they have achieved those results.