Marino Alvarez

Marino C. Alvarez, Ed.D.

"Desultory readers are seldom remarkable for the exactness of their learning."

- Sherlock Holmes in
A Study in Scarlet

Marino C. Alvarez is a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning of the College of Education and Director of the Exploring Minds Project, in the Center of Excellence in Information Systems at Tennessee State University. He received his Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree from the Junior College of Albany, Albany, New York and his Bachelor's of Arts (B.A.) degree from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. His masters (M.A.) and doctoral (Ed.D.) degrees are from West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. His interest in content literacy stems from his years as a middle and secondary school social studies teacher. He has served on national committees, editorial advisory boards, and is the Past President of the College Reading Association and Past Chair of the Action Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association. His publications appear in edited chapters and in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, Reading Research and Instruction, United Kingdom Reading Association, Teaching Exceptional Children, National Association of Secondary School Principals, Handbook of College Reading and Study Strategy Research, and the Handbook of Research in Teaching Literacy through the Visual and Communicative Arts. Dr. Alvarez is a co-author with Bob Gowin of The Art of Educating with V Diagrams published by Cambridge University Press, New York and Cambridge UK.

Professor Alvarez is a Sherlockian and an invested member of the Nashville Scholars of the Three Pipe Problem and The Fresh Rashers. He has published an article in the Baker Street Journal, Sherlock Holmes As College Professor, 51, no. 1, 44-48, 2001.

Professor Alvarez is the only recipient of both the Teacher-of-the-Year and Distinguished Researcher-of-the-Year Awards at Tennessee State University (1995). He was also voted the "Most Inspiring Teacher" in a student election held by the TSU Student Teacher Education Association, 1998-1999 and again in 2000-2001. He is the recipient of the Albert J. Mazurkiewicz Service Award for outstanding service to the College Reading Association, 1999.

Dr. Alvarez enjoys working with teachers and students on various research projects. Recently, he worked on a five-year case-based literacy project with secondary teachers. Currently, he is directing the Explorers of the Universe, a scientific literacy project that involves teachers and their students engaging in data collection and analysis of variable stars.

His wife, Vicki Risko, is a faculty member at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. She is actively involved in literacy education serving on national boards and committees.