News Item

ASU Emeritus Professor Nelson L. Haggerson, a passionate believer in “Spirit Centered Wholeness in Education,” died on Aug. 6, 2009. He was 82.

During his 27 years at Arizona State University, he served for eight years as the chair of secondary education in the Division of Curriculum and Instruction and chaired more than 120 doctoral dissertations. His teaching of both undergraduate and graduate students merited him the Arizona Classroom Teacher’s “Teacher of the Year Award” in 1973 and the College of Education “Outstanding Teacher Award” in 1988.

Haggerson’s area of research interest was reconceptualizing curriculum theory and inquiry. His research and writing won him two coveted research awards and national and international acclaim, including the College of Education recognizing him with its “Outstanding Research Award” in 1987.

His dedication to research and service to the field of education took him to the far reaches of the globe. In 1986, Haggerson was a Fulbright Scholar in India, and in 1988, he was a visiting researcher at Deakin University in Geelong, Australia. In 1989, he served as the program chair for the World Council for Curriculum and Instruction in the Netherlands and was a visiting scholar at the University of San Jose-Recoletos in Cebu City, Philippines.

He published two books and numerous articles and scholarly book chapters, and served as editor of the Arizona Association for Curriculum and Supervision Review, as well as on the board of editors for several journals. Haggerson was quoted as saying his most exciting publication was a book of poems that he wrote in 1971, To Dance With Joy. In 2002, a group of essays were written in tribute to Haggerson to form a book entitled Mission of the Scholar: A Tribute to Nelson Haggerson that stimulates reflection on the ways to produce knowledge in a meaningful way to the concerns of the post-modern world.

Faculty, staff, students, and alumni interested in donating to the Nelson Haggerson Dissertation Fellowship may visit: asufoundation.org/Haggerson. Checks should be made payable to the ASU Foundation with the Nelson Haggerson Dissertation Fellowship in the subject line and sent to the attention of Sonya Lindquist in the Dean’s Office (Mail Code 0211). Questions regarding the Nelson Haggerson Dissertation Fellowship should be directed to Sonya Lindquist at (480) 727-9377 or sonyal@asu.edu.