Eunice N. Askov Askov, PhD
Hall of Fame Class of 2007
Eunice N. Askov, PhD 1969, University of Wisconsin – Madison, is a Distinguished Professor Emerita of Education and the former co-director of the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy and of the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy, The Pennsylvania State University.
Co-directing research of the two institutes, she provided leadership and research in adult literacy through various projects relating to family literacy, applications of technology to instruction, workplace literacy, special needs populations and staff development. She was also the first Literacy Leader Fellow at the National Institute for Literacy in Washington, D.C., carrying out research related to skill standards and workplace literacy.
Additionally, she served as a lead faculty member for both the master’s degree in adult education and the Certificate in Family Literacy which are offered through the Penn State World Campus. She also taught resident and online courses in the master’s and doctoral programs in adult education at Penn State.
Askov conducted research in adult literacy at the University of Western Australia under a Fulbright Senior Scholar's Award (1983). She was named Distinguished Fellow, The Flinders University (Adelaide, Australia), Institute of International Education (1998), given the University of Wisconsin, School of Education Alumni Achievement Award (1994), the Penn State College of Education Career Achievement Award (1999) and named a university Distinguished Professor in 2001. In 2005 she received the Cotterill Award for Leadership in the College of Education and was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame, an honorary affiliated with the International Reading Association.
In addition to numerous journal articles and book chapters, she is author of four textbooks on reading instruction. On a sabbatical leave in 1993, she studied applications of technology in adult literacy in developed and developing countries in travels around the world. On sabbatical leave in 2000-2001, she studied applications of Web-based distance education in adult literacy programs in Australia.
Askov served on the board of directors of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education. She serves on the board of directors as research chair of the National Coalition for Literacy as well as on various editorial boards for research publications.