Sharan B. Merriam

Sharan B. Merriam is a professor emerita of adult education and qualitative research methods at the University of Georgia in Athens, where she taught graduate courses in adult education and qualitative research and supervised graduate student research. She earned a B.A. in English literature from Drew University (1965), an M.Ed. in English education from Ohio University (1971), and an Ed.D. in adult education from Rutgers University (1978). Before joining the University of Georgia, she served on the faculties of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Northern Illinois University**.

Merriam is an internationally recognized scholar of adult learning, adult development, the foundations of adult education, and qualitative research methods, and has authored, coauthored, or edited more than two dozen books and numerous articles and chapters in these fields. Her works include Learning in Adulthood: A Comprehensive Guide, coauthored with Rosemary S. Caffarella and Lisa M. Baumgartner, Adult Learning and Adult Learning: Linking Theory and Practice (with Laura Bierema). She has been a Fulbright Scholar to Malaysia and a multiple recipient of the Cyril O. Houle World Award for Outstanding Literature in Adult Education, winning it for several different books. She also