Brief Resume of Allan's Career - St. Francis Xavier University

Allan Quigley, Ed.DProfessor EmeritusSt. Francis Xavier UniversityIn 2012, Allan will be inducted into the Adult and Continuing Education International Hall ofFame, located at the University of Oklahoma (http://www.halloffame.outreach.ou.edu/). Thishonour is the culmination of a nearly 40 year career in adult education and, particularly, in adultliteracy education. Following is a brief resume of his career.Raised on a farm and a small town in Saskatchewan, Canada, Allan completed a BA (English) atthe University of Regina then volunteered with the Canadian University Services Overseas(CUSO) and taught ESL in North India from 1967-70. In 1968, his fiancé, Linda, joined CUSOand travelled with the 1968 volunteer group to India. They were married that fall in Simla—theformer British summer capital of India located in the Himalayas. They both taught ESL untiltheir return to Canada in 1970.Returning to Regina, Allan completed a Master of Arts in English at the University ofSaskatchewan, Regina Campus. They moved to Northern Saskatchewan where he taught hisfirst class of adults in an adult basic education program; they then moved to Fort McMurray,Alberta, where he taught ABE and became the first Director of Further Education for what wasdeveloped into Keyano College while he was in the management there.They returned to Regina in 1975 where he helped found Regina Plains Community Collegealong with a group of five adult educators, a board of trustees, and the support of theSaskatchewan Department of Continuing Education. After a year working as one of theCollege’s Community Developers, he was promoted to Director of the Adult Basic Educationprogram where he was responsible for a city-wide literacy and basic education program. In 1978he joined the Saskatchewan Department of Continuing Education as a Community CollegeCoordinator responsible for the province’s ESL and GED programs. as well as Adult BasicEducation and training new Trustees joining Saskatchewan’s community colleges.He completed his doctorate in Adult and Continuing Education at Northern Illinois University in1978 and, in May of that year, his dissertation on adult literacy was awarded the Adult EducationResearch Award for Outstanding Student Research for the United States and Canada.He was promoted to Director of the University Affairs Branch back at the SaskatchewanDepartment of Continuing Education. In 1987, he and his family moved to Pennsylvaniawhere he joined the faculty of Adult Education at Penn State University. Allan wasinvolved in establishing the Penn State Graduate Center in Pittsburgh as the Director andfounder of the graduate program in Adult Education at that same center.During his ten years with Penn State, he was recognized in the adult literacy profession in1994 by being awarded the Outstanding Adult Educator award from the Pennsylvania

2Association of Adult Continuing Education. In 1997, the Kenneth J. Mattran LeadershipAward for Leadership was awarded to Allan from the Commission of Adult BasicEducation. This professional association is the largest professional literacy/adult basiceducation association in the U.S.A. and the award is the highest given by the Commissionfor exemplary teaching, research, and leadership in the field. In March, 1996, he wasawarded the Pennsylvania State University Award for Academic Excellence from theDepartment of Distance and Continuing Education. This award is given by Penn StateUniversity to faculty for research and teaching excellence germane to continuing anddistance Education.While at Penn State, he served on multiple university committees in addition to helpingfound the Graduate Center, including professional boards and committees in adulteducation such as Chair of the Research Unit of the American Association for Continuingand Adult Education, a board member of the Commission of Professors of Adult Education,and a board member of the GED Testing Service in Washington, DC. Allan gave invitedtestimony to 2 hearings on literacy legislation and served on several state-level committees.He was also a board member of the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council as a representativeof Penn State University.Coming home to Canada, he joined the Adult Education faculty of St. Francis XavierUniversity in Antigonish, Nova Scotia in 1997. He was asked to Chair the Department ofAdult Education the following year, a role that was renewed in 2000 for a second term. Hewas also invited by the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education to take onthe role of Editor-In-Chief of The Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education,Canada’s major journal of research in the field of Adult Education. In the spring of 2001,he was invited by the President of St FX to assume the editorship of The AntigonishReview. This journal of fiction, poetry and essays is St FX's major journal in the literaryworld.During his 13 years with StFX, he continued his research and publishing in, especially, thearea of adult literacy and has published over 200 articles, book chapters, reports andmonographs. In 1997, he was awarded the Cyril O. Houle Award by the Commission ofProfessors of Adult Education—the highest award in the adult education field—for his book ,Rethinking Literacy Education. In 2005, he published three entries in the new InternationalEncyclopedia of Adult Education focusing on Literacy, Social Policy, and Action Research.His most recent book, Building Professional Pride in literacy, was released on InternationalLiteracy Day, Sept 8, 2006 in New Orleans where was conducting research on literacy in thepost-Katrina era. He has served on SSHRC adjudication committees and was the recipient of

3yearly grants, including research grants from the Canadian Council on Learning, both federaland provincial governments and Canada Council grants.He has given keynote speeches and presentations in virtually every province and state, and wasinvited to conduct a speaking tour of Australia in 2003, During Learners’ Week that year, hegave public and media presentations in Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane. In 2004, Allanwas selected by the Canadian Education Association as one of Canada’s Leading LiteracyResearchers.While at St FX, he was, and still is, consulting editor for 3 refereed journals. He is a past boardmember of the Commission on Adult Learning and Educational Credentials in Washington,D.C. (which is part of the American Council on Education), and has served several terms onthe Advisory Board of the GED Testing Service. While in the community of Antigonish,Nova Scotia, he was a board member of the Antigonish County Adult Learning Association(ACALA) which is responsible for literacy and adult basic education classes in the Antigonishregion, and served two terms on the Planning Advisory Committee for the town of Antigonish.After several months with the Saskatchewan Literacy Commission, Allan and his wife retiredhome to Regina in 2007 and he was the recipient of Campion College’s Alumni of ExcellenceAward at the University of Regina.Involved now in adult education consulting, Allan has developed research reports for severalgovernments, including a meta-analysis of literacy policies for the Government of NewZealand, he has been involved in a six-state qualitative research study with the GED TestingService, is involved in building a Research-in-Practice movement with literacy and basiceducators across Saskatchewan, and has contributed to the development of a new literacytesting tool for Aboriginal adults which is a cultural option to the widely used InternationalAdult Literacy Survey and is expected to be used Canada-wide in Aboriginal literacy.He remains Adjunct Professor with St. Francis Xavier University and is Adjunct Professorwith Penn State University as well. He currently teaches on-line graduate classes for PennState on a part-time basis in addition to his consulting work. His wife, Linda, taught Art andArt History at St. Francis Xavier University for most of the 13 years they were in Antigonishand she continues to teach Art History on-line for StFX.(July 2011)