In Honor Of…Art Graesser
Honoring scientists who have made important and lasting contributions to the sciences of mind, brain, and behavior.
Arthur C. Graesser, PhD
Professor of Psychology
University of Memphis
Dr. Art Graesser is a true scholar, teacher, and colleague. He is internationally known for his work across several disciplines within the behavioral and brain sciences. Indeed, he is a “renaissance man,” having conducted intensive research in several areas of cognitive and learning sciences including knowledge representation, discourse processing, inference generation, conversation, question asking and answering, emotion, human computer interaction, serious games, and intelligent tutoring systems. Art earned a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from Florida State University in 1972, and his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego in 1977. Since that time he has always been on the go, conducting research and helping others do the same.
Art Graesser is a prodigious scholar, having published over 500 articles in journals, books, and conference proceedings, as well as authoring three books and editing fourteen more. In addition to serving on the editorial board of 12 scientific journals, he has been the editor of Discourse Processes (1996-2005) and the Journal of Educational Psychology (2009-2014). Art is highly visible in many research communities. He has served as the president of Empirical Studies of Literature, Art, and Media (1989-1992), the Society for Text and Discourse (2007-2010), and the International Society for Artificial Intelligence in Education (2007-2009). In addition, he served as the president of the Federation of Associations in the Behavioral and Brain Sciences Foundation (2012-13).
As an educator, he lived most of his professional life at the University of Memphis (since 1985) after teaching at the California State University, Fullerton. Over the years, he has received over 20 honors and awards from universities and professional organizations. These include awards for teaching, outstanding papers, and research. For example, he was awarded the “Distinguished Contributions of Applications of Psychology Education and Training Award” from the APA in 2011, became a Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Oxford in 2011, and received the first ever “University of Memphis Presidential Award for Lifetime Achievement in Research,” an award of which he is particularly proud.
Many of us know him as a mentor. Art has supervised more than 45 doctoral and postdoctoral students. Ever gracious with his time, he worked tirelessly to lend a helping hand in any way that he could. Still others know him as a colleague. He and his colleagues have designed, developed, and tested software in learning, language, and discourse technologies, including AutoTutor, AutoTutor-lite, MetaTutor, GuruTutor, DeepTutor, HURA Advisor, SEEK Web Tutor, Operation ARIES!, iSTART, Writing-Pal, Point & Query, Question Understanding Aid (QUAID), QUEST, & Coh-Metrix. And a lucky few know him as both.
Art embodies the essence of the Behavioral and Brain Sciences. He has served as a leader to multiple scientific organizations, students, and colleagues. He is a friend and a mentor to hundreds, if not thousands, of scientists across the globe. Art is genuinely outstanding in all the ways that count: scientific contributions; mentor, colleague, and friend; service to the professions; commitment to evidence-based applications; and an honorable approach to life.
We are deeply honored to have had the fortune to be his colleague and friend.
Individuals Honoring Art Graesser:
Ani Aghababyan, Utah State University
Frank Andrasik, University of Memphis
Whitney Baer, University of Memphis
Ryan Baker, Columbia University
Adrian Bangerter, Université de Neuchâtel
Stephen Blessing, University of Tampa
Cheryl Bowers, University of Memphis
Anne Britt, Northern Illinois University
Zhiqiang Cai, University of Memphis
Christine Cameron, FABBS
John Carney, MARi
Jody Cockroft, University of Memphis
Renee Cogar, University of Memphis
Anne Cook, University of Utah
Scott Crossley, George State University
Sidney D’Mello, University of Notre Dame
Frances Daniel, Indiana University Northwest
Nia Dowell, University of Memphis
Jean Edgar
Andrew Elfenbein, University of Minnesota
Jeremiah T Folsom-Kovarik, Soar Technology
Peter Foltz, University of Colorado Boulder
Carol Forsyth, Educational Testing Service, Cognitive Science Research Group
*Donald Foss, University of Houston
Stan Franklin, University of Memphis
Hongxia Fu, Arizona State University
Shaun Gallagher, University of Memphis
Eduardo Vidal Abarca Gamez, Universitat de València
Dipesh Gautam, University of Memphis
Morton Ann Gernsbacher, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Richard Gerrig, SUNY Stony Brook
Richard Golden, University of Texas at Dallas
Arthur Glenberg, Arizona State University
Jonathan Golding, University of Kentucky
Susan R. Goldman, University of Illinois at Chicago
Daphne Greenberg, Georgia State University
Diane Halpern, Claremont McKenna College
Lisa Harlow, University of Rhode Island
Peter Hastings, DePaul University
Robert Hausmann
Mattie Haynes, University of Memphis
Neil & Cristina Heffernan, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Brad Henry
Sid Horton, Northwestern University
Xiangen Hu, University of Memphis
Craig Kelly
Panayiota Kendeou, University of Minnesota
Fazel Keshtkar, Southeast Missouri State University
Loel Kim, University of Memphis
Walter Kintsch, University of Colorado Boulder
Kenneth Koedinger, Carnegie Mellon University
Janet Kolodner
Hide Komeda, Carnegie Mellon University
Brooke Lea, Macalester College
Blair Lehman
Alan M Lesgold, University of Pittsburgh
Haiying Li, University of Memphis
Debra Long, University of California, Davis
Jaclyn Maass, University of Memphis
Joseph Magliano, Northern Illinois University
Nabin Maharjan, University of Memphis
David Markowitz, Stanford University
Yasmine El Masri, Oxford University
*Danielle McNamara, Arizona State University
Andrew Meyers, University of Memphis
*Keith Millis, Northern Illinois University
Heather Mitchell, Webster University
Tanja Mitrovic, University of Canterbury
Brent Morgan, University of Memphis
Donald Morrison, Carnegie Mellon University
Jack Mostow, Carnegie Mellon University
Thomas Murray
Helga Noice, Elmhurst College
Edward O’Brien, University of New Hampshire
Amy Ogan, Carnegie Mellon University
D. Kimbrough Oller, University of Memphis
Andrew Olney, University of Memphis
Edward Ordman, University of Memphis
Yasuhiro Ozuru, University of Alaska Anchorage
Philip Pavlik, Jr., University of Memphis
Charles Perfetti, University of Pittsburgh
Patricia Reuter-Lorenz, University of Michigan
Evan Risko, University of Waterloo
Maria Mercedes Rodrigo, Ateneo de Manila University
Wendy Rogers, Georgia Institute of Technology
Jean-Francois Rouet, Université de Poitiers
Carolyn Rose, Carnegie Mellon University
Michael Schober, The New School
Murray Singer, University of Manitoba
Roger Taylor, SUNY Oswego
Erin Walker, Arizona State University
Patty Wallace, Northern Illinois University
Alistair Windsor, University of Memphis
Leah Windsor, University of Memphis
Michael Wolfe, Grand Valley State University
*FABBS would like to thank Dr. Donald Foss, Dr. Danielle McNamara, and Dr. Keith Millis for nominating Dr. Graesser for this honor and for leading the effort to spread the word about his nomination.
