Alan E. Farstrup, who served as the executive director of the International Reading Association (now International Literacy Association) from 1992–2009, passed away October 31 from complications related to a recent stroke. 

Alan’s long period of service touched many. He was an indefatigable advocate for research (he served as IRA’s director of research 1985–1991) and the professional development of literacy teachers and school-based literacy professionals. He was an ardent supporter of the state council network and of our international affiliates. He kept a world map on his office wall covered with colored pins marking the countries he had visited to meet with members and work with colleagues to advance the cause of literacy.

Earlier in his career, Alan was a Peace Corps volunteer and served as a graduate teaching assistant to P. David Pearson, noted researcher and founding chair of ILA’s Literacy Research Panel, when Pearson taught at the University of Minnesota in the mid-1970s. The two became lifelong friends.

Amid the press of his administrative duties, Alan found time to coedit with S. Jay Samuels the three titles of ILA’s influential What Research Has to Say series on the topics of reading, vocabulary, and fluency instruction. He was also an active member of the Reading Hall of Fame.

Tall and ever-smiling, Alan always exuded a personal warmth that was his most endearing quality. He was genuinely interested in exploring all manner of project and program ideas. Supportive and encouraging by nature, Alan relished his interactions with board members and ILA staff. He decorated the headquarters conference room and hallways with group photos of both.

At annual and regional conferences, and at the world congresses, Alan’s meet-ups and appointments kept him constantly on the move, as he toiled to grow new contacts and forge new partnerships.

During his tenure, ILA (then International Reading Association) undertook joint efforts with the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) to develop standards for English Language Arts, the Carnegie Corporation to develop guidelines for literacy coaches, and the Marco Polo Partners Consortium to develop the award-winning online resource ReadWriteThink.

Of equal importance, under Alan’s leadership, the Association’s website, formerly reading.org, underwent a major upgrade to support online interactions and e-commerce transactions with members, and new agreements for digitizing the content of our journals were entered into. Alan understood the strategic importance of digital technology as a driver of new literacies.

Alan was a congenial leader, fully absorbed in his work and fully appreciative of all those with whom he worked. He would never pass in the hallway, the parking lot, or the coffee room without stopping to chat. We will miss him dearly at ILA, and in this moment of grief we celebrate his long service and the grace with which he gave it.

We offer our deepest condolences to his family along with our sincerest gratitude for all that he accomplished on behalf of our membership.