Amy Rose
Hall of Fame Class of 2013
Nationally recognized for her scholarly expertise and leadership, Amy Rose has provided notable contributions through her research of the history of adult education. Her most significant contribution comes from her research and the use of that knowledge to inform the present and future. Among the issues she has researched are the history of the establishment of adult education as an organization, the early development of the GED as a policy and national practice, prior learning assessment, and current contemporary adult education issues.
Some of Dr. Rose’s most notable achievements have been her published works. She has provided key leadership as co-editor of the 2010 Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education and as co-editor of the Adult Education Quarterly. She also wrote a regular column called “New Directions in Adult Learning” in the journal Adult Learning. In addition, she has written numerous other articles and chapters, focusing on the history and policy of adult education, nontraditional higher education, worker and labor education, and adult basic education.
From her dissertation work to her writings, teaching, and administrative positions, she has been involved in efforts to enhance the visibility and stature of adult and continuing education the entire time she has worked within the field. She was instrumental in reviving and enhancing the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE), where she has served as a member of the Board of Directors, Secretary, President-Elect, President, and Past President. She was responsible for the first successful conference in many years and led a group that planned additional conferences on work transitions and adult education. More recently, she founded a special interest group on labor issues and helped organize a preconference session on green jobs that turned into a special issue of Adult Learning. She has also worked with the Commission of Professors of Adult Education, a number of AAACE committees, and her own informal work mentoring young scholars in the field.
Dr. Rose has been involved in several interdisciplinary collaborations. She was an officer for several years in the Midwest History of Education Society, serving as Secretary, Vice President, and President. She has also served as a Division Chair for Division F (History) of the Midwest Educational Research Association. In these positions, she helped raise the interest of historians in the field of adult education as an area of inquiry. More recently, she has been working with a group of adult educators and educational psychologists to explore issues of motivation and engagement among nontraditional students. These interdisciplinary efforts have enhanced these scholarly disciplines, as well as providing important collaborations between her field and those of history of education and educational psychology.
In 2010, she was honored with the AAACE Outstanding Service Medallion. Throughout a career of more than 30 years, Dr. Amy Rose has been committed to furthering the cause of adult education through her research, writing, teaching, and leadership. Her contributions will help the field of adult education for many years to come.