Celebrating Linda Flower's Retirement
The crowdfunding campaign for this project has closed but you can still make your gift to support this project.
Online:
Check by mail:
PO Box 371525 Pittsburgh, PA 15251-7525
Securities, wire transfers and cryptocurrency:
gift-administration@andrew.cmu.edu or 412-268-2582
Be sure to designate "Statistics and Data Science Experiential Innovation Fund" as the recipient of the gift!
After dedicating 53 years to a career in teaching, Professor Linda Flower will retire from the English Department at the end of this academic year. Professor Flower was formative in the creation of the Rhetoric Program in 1980 and has been a guiding light for many students in the department since. As an administrator, Professor Flower has served as the Director for the Center for University Outreach at Carnegie Mellon University and as the Co-Director for the National Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy at Berkeley and CMU. Her research with John R. Hayes initiated the study of cognitive rhetoric revealing the problem-solving strategies of expert and novice writers. Over her career, her experience in teaching merged with a commitment to community literacy and engagement. She is passionate about the roles that rhetoric, writing and education play in driving transformative change. Though she is retiring from her teaching position, Professor Flower is continuing to shape how we approach community engagement – she is currently working to publish a book on this very topic.
Professor Flower has been recognized for her exceptional commitment to her students and her work, receiving the Mark Gelfand Service Award for Educational Outreach in 2009, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) James R. Squire Award in 2020, and many additional honors and awards in the fields of English and community engagement.
Why We are Raising Funds
In celebration of Professor Flower’s tenured career and her impact across the university and in the field, the English Department will be raising funds to give graduate students in rhetoric the opportunity to develop a course that links research and theory through collaborative engagement with a community partner. Such courses can give CMU students the opportunity to apply and test what they have learned while making an impact in an area that resonates closely with Professor Flower’s own work.
Why Contribute
As alumni of the department, we are sure that many of you have stories regarding how Professor Flower’s teaching and mentorship helped to guide you throughout your degree programs, propelling your career. We can’t think of a better way to honor Professor Flower’s retirement than to support our students as they continue this legacy of engaging and collaborating with the community. On behalf of the English Department at Carnegie Mellon University, thank you for considering a donation and for your support in honoring Professor Flower for over 50 years of service to the field of education and to numerous Tartans.