Linda Morris
Hall of Fame Class of 2022
For approximately 60 years, Linda Morris has brought a passion for educational and social change and collaborative inquiry to the field of adult learning and education. Given her scholarly accomplishments and knowledge, combined with her years of practical experience, she has integrated theory and practice, contributing to effective learning programs and policies for thousands of employees and increasing visibility for adult learning and development’s role in meeting organizational goals. This acumen has been evidenced in her work not only in corporations but in universities and in her leadership of professional associations.
Clearly, Morris has been a change agent. In the corporate arena, at the professional services firm Arthur Young, she set goals, policies, budgets, and practices, managing programs for thousands of employees. Also, she introduced Arthur Young’s first computer-based education program, which saved $1 million by its second year. In higher education, she devised an innovative online doctoral program, launched a graduate degree in Hong Kong, and developed many online graduate courses. Her scholarship includes preparing more than 50 articles and presentations, chairing or participating in more than 35 doctoral dissertation committees, co-editing a special issue on adult development in Adult Learning (2016) and Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Communication Technologies in Education (2012-2018), and writing a quarterly research column in Training & Development (1994-1996).
Morris’ cutting-edge contributions to the education of adult educators on national as well as international levels reflect her convictions that education’s purpose is to further the common good, promote social justice, and enhance adult and community development. These goals are exemplified in the online Adult Learning and Development doctoral program that Louisiana’s Northwestern State University (NSU) began in 2016. Morris designed, organized, and operationalized the program’s workforce development concentration, identifying critical content, weaving central themes of equity and access, development, and transformational change throughout the coursework, simultaneously infusing adult learning and development components throughout. The program’s impact on workforce and economic development and quality of life for thousands of adults and communities will continue for many years.
Her development of innovative learning programs, targeted at organizational priorities and obtaining measurable positive results, increased adult and continuing education’s status. It resulted in more acceptance; increased capabilities; greater individual, team, and organizational learning; and more robust budgets. It positioned adult education as a strategic partner, spurred innovation and collaboration, and encouraged Morris’s continuing leadership in developing companies as learning organizations.
Leading professional associations, Morris mobilized members to confront critical challenges through collaborative inquiry and joint action. At the American Society of Training & Development (ASTD), she co-founded brain trainers, learning organizations, and knowledge management networks, receiving ASTD’s Outstanding Service Award. She reinvigorated the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education’s (AAACE) Workforce Development SIG. At AAACE preconferences, her presentations catalyzed lasting dialogue that inspired participants to visible concrete action as scholars and practitioners. As president of AAACE and the Coalition of Lifelong Learning Organizations (COLLO), Morris has highlighted critical policy issues, stimulated exploration and dialogue, and collaborated with other organizations to create change.