Michael O. Tunnell | |
---|---|
Born | June 14, 1950 |
Occupation |
|
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | University of Utah Utah State University Brigham Young University |
Genre | Children's literature |
Parents | Billie Bob Tunnell Mauzi Chupp |
Michael O. Tunnell (born June 14, 1950) is an American children's writer and educator. He was the department chair of children's literature at Brigham Young University (BYU), but recently retired. He has published several books on children's literature, especially on the work of Lloyd Alexander. [1] Tunnell is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). [2]
Tunnell was born on June 14, 1950, to Billie Bob Tunnell and Mauzi Chupp. [3] Although he was born in Nocona, Texas, he was raised in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. When he was a teenager, his family moved back to the United States to Vernal, Utah. [4] Beginning at a young age, he was an avid reader. [2] He was raised by his grandparents, and his grandmother would read to him every day. He began studying law in college, until he visited an elementary school one day for his job at a car dealership. He realized that he wanted to pursue education instead. [3]
Tunnell's education includes a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah in 1973, a master's degree from Utah State University in 1978, and a doctorate degree in education from Brigham Young University in 1986. [3] [4] He taught fifth and sixth grade in public schools for twelve years from 1973 to 1985. He also taught as a reading teacher and media specialist, before he decided to teach at the college level. Tunnell taught at Arkansas State University from 1985 to 1987, Northern Illinois University from 1987 to 1992, and currently teaches children's literature at BYU. [3] [4] As a professor he conducts research at BYU. Among his interests are children's literature and the effects it has on learning history. [5]
Tunnell is the author of several books. He began writing during his teaching career. His first children's book was submitted over thirty times to different publishers and was never published. While working at Northern Illinois University, Tunnell's first picture book manuscript. Chinook, was published. [2] He has had children's books published as well, and they include novels, picture books, and non-fiction books. [1] Tunnell's first novel published was School Spirits, which drew from his childhood during the 1950s. [2] He has been a speaker at educational conferences, and has published journal articles and other children's stories. [4]
Tunnell has served on the Newbery Award Committee in 1991 and 2009 as well as on the selection committee for the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. [1] [5] He was selected as the chair of the National Council of Teachers English Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children committee. [4] Some of his publications have been nominated as "best books" by various institutions. [4] He won the Literacy award in 1987 from the International Reading Association and the Northeast Arkansas Reading Council. He is an honorary member of the Golden Key National Honor Society, inducted in 1990. He has been nominated for Who's Who in the West on multiple occasions. [5]
Lloyd Chudley Alexander was an American author of more than 40 books, primarily fantasy novels for children and young adults. Over his seven-decade career, Alexander wrote 48 books, and his work has been translated into 20 languages. His most famous work is The Chronicles of Prydain, a series of five high fantasy novels whose conclusion, The High King, was awarded the 1969 Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature. He won U.S. National Book Awards in 1971 and 1982.
The Chronicles of Prydain is a pentalogy of children's high fantasy Bildungsroman novels written by American author Lloyd Alexander and published by Henry Holt and Company. The series includes: The Book of Three (1964), The Black Cauldron (1965), The Castle of Llyr (1966), Taran Wanderer (1967), and The High King (1968). The Black Cauldron earned a 1966 Newbery Honor, and The High King won the 1969 Newbery Medal.
Ernest Leroy Wilkinson was an American academic administrator, lawyer, and prominent figure in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was president of Brigham Young University (BYU) from 1951 to 1971, simultaneously overseeing the entire LDS Church Educational System (CES). He is credited with the expansion of BYU. Under his presidency, the student body increased six times to over 25,000 students due to the university's physical growth and his aggressive recruiting policies; the number of colleges at the university increased from five to thirteen, and the number of faculty members increased four-fold. Wilkinson focused on recruiting more faculty and convincing current faculty to receive education outside the university. As a result, the number of teachers with doctorate degrees increased from 50 to 500. Associate and doctoral programs were created for BYU.
George Henry Brimhall was president of Brigham Young University (BYU) from 1904 to 1921. After graduating from Brigham Young Academy (BYA), Brimhall served as principal of Spanish Fork schools and then as district superintendent of Utah County schools, finally returning to BYU. In April 1904, Brimhall became president of the school, which had become BYU in October 1903. As president of BYU, Brimhall helped institute the collegiate program, departments for specific subjects, and an emphasis on religious learning.
Benjamin Cluff Jr. was the first president of Brigham Young University and its third principal. Under his administration, the student body and faculty more than doubled in size, and the school went from an academy to a university, and was officially incorporated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Cluff changed class periods from half an hour to a full hour, adopted the official colors of the university, started summer school and the Alumni Association, encouraged the university's first student newspaper, provided the first student loans, and developed an intercollegiate sports system.
Alice Louise Reynolds was a Brigham Young University (BYU) professor. Reynolds furthered her studies out east, receiving a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan. She taught college-level courses at Brigham Young Academy until it dissolved into BYU, and she was the first woman to do so. She was the second woman in Utah to be named a full professor, and the first woman to be a full professor at BYU. She worked to establish the library at Brigham Young Academy, and through her efforts, she was able to collect over 100,000 donated volumes. She worked as an editor for the Relief Society Magazine and contributed to other LDS Church-affiliated magazines. Reynolds was an outspoken Democrat and served on the party's committee and as a delegate to the party's national convention. Reynolds died in 1938 of cancer.
Anthony Canute Lund was the director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Salt Lake City, Utah from 1916 until 1935. Lund was also a professor of music at Brigham Young University.
Lorin Farrar Wheelwright was an American Latter-day Saint hymnwriter, composer, musical instructor and educator.
Daniel Hansen Ludlow was a professor of religion at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. He was also the chief editor of the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, published in 1992 by Macmillan.
The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special collections contained over 300,000 books, 11,000 manuscript collections, and over 2.5 million photographs, among many other rare and unique research materials. Since its inception, the special collections have been housed in numerous places including the crawl space of a university building and a wholesale grocery warehouse. Since 2016, the special collections have been located on the first floor of the Harold B. Lee Library and is considered to hold "the finest collection of rare books in the Intermountain West and the second finest Mormon collection in existence".
Christopher Everett Crowe is an American professor of English and English education at Brigham Young University (BYU) specializing in young adult literature. In addition to his academic work, Crowe also writes books for the young-adult market, including Mississippi Trial, 1955.
Howard Roscoe Driggs was an English professor at the University of Utah and New York University. He also was the author or editor of more than 50 books, including at least seven novels.
Alan Frank Keele is an American professor of German at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah.
William Edwin "Ed" Berrett was a Vice President of Brigham Young University (BYU) and a Latter-day Saint author.
Thomas Earl Pardoe (1885–1971) was the first head of the Brigham Young University (BYU) drama program. One of the main theaters in the Harris Fine Arts Center at BYU is named for him and his wife, Kathryn Bassett Pardoe, who was also an influential drama teacher at BYU.
Bradley Ray Wilcox is a professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University (BYU) and has been a counselor in the Young Men general presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since April 2020.
Karl Egbert Young (1903–1990) was a professor of English and related subjects at Brigham Young University (BYU) who wrote several books, primarily dealing with the Mormon colonies in northern Mexico and the flight of these colonists back to the United States in 1912.
The 1911 modernism controversy at Brigham Young University was an episode involving four professors at Brigham Young University (BYU), who between 1908 and 1911 widely taught evolution and higher criticism of the Bible, arguing that modern scientific thought was compatible with Christian and Mormon theology. The professors were popular among students and the community but their teachings concerned administrators, and drew complaints from stake presidents, eventually resulting in the resignation of all four faculty members, an event that "leveled a serious blow to the academic reputation of Brigham Young University—one from which the Mormon school did not fully recover until successive presidential administrations."
Wesley Parkinson Lloyd was an American college administrator in several universities including Brigham Young University and the United States International University. Lloyd was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served an LDS mission. He taught at Rexburg High School and after, worked as a principal of seminary. After receiving his master's and doctorate degrees, Lloyd worked at multiple universities, including BYU, the United States International University, and California Western College. In his personal life, Lloyd married Lucille Murdock in 1926 and had three children. He died on March 7, 1977, at the age of 72.
The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Grant Library building was completed in 1925, and in 1961 the library moved to the newly constructed J. Reuben Clark Library where it stands today. That building was renamed to the Harold B. Lee Library in 1974.