Ernest Morrell, the Coyle Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, passed away on February 4 after a long battle with cancer. He was 54 years old.
A native of California, Dr. Morrell earned his bachelor’s degree in English at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was captain of the track and field team. After earning his secondary English teaching credential from the University of California, Berkeley, he taught and coached girls basketball, cross-country, and track and field at Oakland High School. Soon after, Dr. Morrell earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in language, literacy, and culture from UC Berkeley.
Dr. Morrell began his academic career teaching at Michigan State University. He went on to serve on the faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles and Columbia University’s Teachers College, where he was the Macy Professor of English Education. In 2017, Dr. Morrell began his tenure at the University of Notre Dame as a professor in the departments of English and Africana studies. Throughout his tenure, Dr. Morrell served in several leadership roles at Notre Dame, including director of the Center for Literacy Education and associate dean for the humanities and faculty development in the College of Arts & Letters.
A renowned literacy studies scholar, Dr. Morrell advocated for literacy as a means of social justice, empowering youth to access information, exercise informed citizenship, and participate fully in civic and cultural life. He also studied critical pedagogy, postcolonial studies, and global youth popular culture. Over the course of his career, Dr. Morrell published more than 100 articles, research, briefs, and book chapters, as well as 17 scholarly books, including Critical Pedagogy: Teaching for Achievement in City Schools (Teachers College Press, 2013).
