Susan Groenke, PhD

Director, Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature and Professor, English Education

Biography

Susan L. Groenke is a professor English education and Director of the Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature.

She earned a BA in English in 1993 and an MA in curriculum and instruction in 1995 from Virginia Tech. She then taught English, language arts, and creative writing at the middle and high school levels for six years before returning to Virginia Tech to pursue her doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction. In 1999, Groenke was nationally board certified in English/language arts for adolescents. She received her PhD in 2003. Her research interests include adolescent motivation to read and adolescent understandings of young adult literature. Groenke is currently the program advisor for the English education program. She teaches courses in secondary English methods, composition pedagogy, and young adult literature. She is the former editor of English Leadership Quarterly, an NCTE publication. In 2014, she became the director of the Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature at UT.

Professional Background