Dr. Leona M. English
Hall of Fame Class of 2015
Dr. Leona M. English is internationally recognized as one of Canada’s leading scholars. Through innovative teaching, leadership, and ground-breaking research, she has shaped adult education in Canada and influenced the field internationally. She has more than 20 years of teaching at St. Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia, and has influenced hundreds of distance students across Canada, Asia, and Africa. Her student graduates are successful leaders in workplace education, literacy, and nonprofit organizations around the globe.
English served as president of the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education (CASAE) and participated on all of its major national and regional committees. She was associate editor of the Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education, is currently co-editor of Adult Education Quarterly, served on the Houle Award Committee, and is regularly invited as a keynote speaker and presenter internationally. With more than 200 publications, her research in areas of gender, nonprofit leadership, and spirituality is widely recognized. She has also edited or authored numerous books, articles, conference proceedings and papers, chapters, and publications. Her literary skills earned her the Houle Award for Outstanding Research in Adult Education for her co-written book, Learning with Adults: A Critical Pedagogical Introduction.
While English is a leading international scholar, the publication of the International Encyclopedia of Adult Education is perhaps her greatest contribution to the field. For this first major encyclopedia in the field of adult education she established an editorial board in the early 2000s with representatives from Canada, the United States, Australia, and Europe. Then, with their input, invited 120 international scholars to contribute comprehensive entries on all aspects of adult education. Her vision resulted in a volume used in adult education programs around the globe. This encyclopedia helped unite scholars globally and stands as a symbol of an international vision of the field and its future.
English has also been one of Canada’s recognized leaders in adult education, working tirelessly to sustain and build the field of practice and study. She has worked with multiple granting agencies for funding support to ensure that the nation’s academic journal—the Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education—has remainedviable. Her vision and hard work has not only kept the field of adult education on the radar of provincial and federal governments in Canada but has earned for Canada academic prestige beyond its borders. She presently holds the position of Head of Publications at UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning in Hamburg, Germany.