Sharan Merriam

Sharan B. Merriam is a professor of adult education at the University of Georgia whose work focuses on researching and writing about adult learning and the foundations of adult education. She holds a doctorate in adult education from Rutgers University and earlier served on the faculties of Northern Illinois University and Virginia Tech. She has written, co-written or edited 25 books, was co-editor of the Adult Education Quarterly for five years, and is especially known for her work on qualitative case studies in educational research. Her honors include the Cyril O. Houle Award for Outstanding Literature in Adult Education for three different books, a senior Fulbright award to Malaysia in 1998, the Career Achievement Award of the Commission of Professors of Adult Education in 2002, and induction into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame in 2003.