Dr. Gerald G. Duffy, the William E. Moran Distinguished Professor of Reading and Literacy at UNCG, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Mary Lois Staton Reading/Language Arts Conference Feb. 11 at East Carolina University.

Duffy is also professor emeritus at Michigan State University where he served for 25 years as a faculty member and as a senior researcher in the Institute for Research on Teaching. He is a past-president of the National Reading Conference and a member of the Reading Hall of Fame.

His research has utilized both quantitative and qualitative designs in studying effective reading strategy instruction and teacher development in naturalistic, classroom-based settings.

Duffy has published more than 100 journal articles, chapters and research monographs and has written or edited five books, his most recent being "Explaining Reading" (Guilford, 2003). His work in Greensboro focuses on studying the intersection of teacher effectiveness in literacy and the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs.

His teaching and service includes developing and teaching a variety of innovative teacher education programs, conducting numerous short and long term field-based literacy workshops, teaching undergraduate and graduate literacy classes at university and school sites throughout North America, Asia and Europe as well as mentoring doctoral students.

The Mary Lois Staton Reading/Language Arts Conference is an annual teacher education conference that brings national, regional and local speakers on literacy education issues to a one-day conference in Greenville, North Carolina. The event is sponsored by ECU’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education.