Dr. Jovita Ross-Gordon Inducted into Hall of Fame

(San Marcos, TX | November 23, 2015)

Dr. Jovita M. Ross-Gordon was inducted in the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame on November 18, 2015, as part of the 20th anniversary celebration of the Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. The International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame is a nonprofit corporation whose purpose is to honor individuals who have made distinguished contributions to the field of adult and continuing education. It preserves the significant legacies of these individuals in a permanent exhibit of plaques on the University of Oklahoma campus. Individuals are nominated in one of the following three categories: scholars, practitioners, or policy makers. Dr. Ross-Gordon was nominated in the category of scholar.

Dr. Ross-Gordon is a professor of Adult Education in the Department of Counseling, Leadership, Adult Education and School Psychology. She is widely cited and internationally known for her scholarship and professional leadership and has made significant scholarly contributions to the field in the areas of adults in higher education, adult learning disabilities, and multicultural education with a focus on marginalized racial/ethnic groups. In addition, she has served in professional leadership positions at local, state, and national/international levels and through her work as a professor mentored many emerging scholars. At Texas State University and Penn State University she has served on more than 85 dissertation committee, chairing 40. In her nearly 30 years of research and scholarly writing, she has raised important questions about nontraditional learners in higher education settings for both researchers and practitioners. In addition to her own publication, Dr. Ross-Gordon has helped to shape the field’s major publication. Notably, she was co-editor in chief of New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education since 2003, guiding more than 20 issue editors as they developed their thematic volumes.

In recognition of her achievements, Dr. Ross-Gordon was honored by the Commission of Professors of Adult Education with their Career Achievement Award in 2013. Additionally, she has received the Distinguished Alumni–Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Georgia College of Education, the Froke Outstanding Publication Award form the Association for Continuing Higher Education, the 2014 Texas State Presidential Distinction Award for Teaching Excellence, and the research award from the University Continuing Education Association.