Gwendolyn Thompson McMillon

Gwendolyn Thompson McMillon, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Literacy in the Department of Reading and Language Arts at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Her research focuses on examining literacy experiences in the African American Church, making home–school connections, and developing ways to utilize out-of-school literacy experiences to improve in-school literacy teaching and learning. Her work has been published in the Reading Teacher, Language Arts, Education and Urban Society, and several research handbooks. She is the co-author of the forthcoming book Reaching Nontraditional School Families in Nontraditional Ways. Dr. McMillon received the Oakland Faculty Research Fellowship and the Oakland School of Education Investigative Activities Award, as well as the Michigan State University Spencer Research Training Grant Fellowship and the prestigious Spencer Dissertation Fellowship for Research Related to Education. She is currently the principal investigator for the Saginaw/Oakland Literacy Project entitled Whom Are We Serving? Building on Students’ Home and Community Literacy Experiences to Improve Literacy Teaching and Learning in Urban Schools, funded by a Michigan Department of Education Title II Part A Improving Teacher Quality Grant. She is a consultant for the Making Choices and Facing Consequences Crime Prevention Program, and Vice-President of the Saginaw School District Foundation Board of Directors. She is also an active member of the Literacy Research Association (formerly the National Reading Conference) and the International Reading Association, and serves as reviewer for the Michigan Reading Journal and for Teachers College Press.