Deborah Reed is a professor in literacy education and English education in the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and director of the Tennessee Reading Research Center (TRCC).

She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 2010. Reed’s work has been funded by state education agencies, private foundations, and the Institute of Education Sciences. Prior to entering academia, she spent the first 10 years of her career as an English language arts and reading teacher as well as a preK-12 reading specialist, working primarily with students from diverse backgrounds who were exhibiting serious reading difficulties. She has been conducting research on literacy since 2006 and has provided technical assistance in numerous states since 2003.