Elizabeth Birr Moje

University of Michigan

Dean, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor

Elizabeth Birr Moje is dean, George Herbert Mead Collegiate Professor of Education, and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture in the Marsal Family School of Education. A former high school history and biology teacher, Moje's research examines young people's literacy learning cultural navigations, and identity enactments in and out of school in Detroit, Michigan. Moje teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in disciplinary and adolescent literacy, literacy and cultural theory, and research methods. She was awarded the University of Michigan Provost's Teaching Innovation Prize with colleague, Bob Bain, in 2010. Moje has published 5 books and numerous articles in journals such as Science, Harvard Educational Review, Teachers College Record, Reading Research Quarterly, Socius, Journal of Literacy Research, Review of Education Research, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Science Education, International Journal of Science Education, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, and the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. Her research projects have been or are currently funded by the National Institutes of Health/NICHD, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, National Science Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, Spencer Foundation, International Reading Association, and the National Academy of Education. Moje is a member of the William T. Grant Foundation Board of Trustees, an elected member of the National Academy of Education, and an elected member of the Reading Hall of Fame. In 2022, she received the Oscar Causey Award for Distinguished Contributions in Literacy Research from the Literacy Research Association, and in 2023 she received the Senior Career Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Council of Research on Language and Literacy. She also was recognized among Crain's Detroit Business' Notable Leaders in Higher Education in 2023. In September, 2018, together with several partners, including the Detroit Public Schools Community District and the Kresge Foundation, Moje announced the School of Education's participation in the Detroit P-20 Partnership and the Marygrove Learning Community. This vertically aligned, pre-natal through career education continuum supports the learning of children and families from before birth through grade 12, together with a postsecondary educator preparation and induction/residency pathway for University of Michigan teacher education students. In 2024, Marsal Education will add a four-year bachelor's degree program called Learning, Equity, and Problem-Solving for the Public Good, which provides a unique residential experience for first-year undergraduates on the Marygrove campus.