E. Wendy Saul, Ph.D.
Dr. Allen B. and Helen S. Shopmaker
Endowed Professor for Education
University of Missouri-St. Louis
Dr. E. Wendy Saul believes that literacy empowers people to control their own destinies and guides social and economic change in various cultural environments. Because of that belief, her career has focused on supporting literacy efforts to reach children and educators throughout the world. Though she joined the UMSL faculty in 2003, her international literacy education efforts began as early as 1997 when she participated in the Open Society Institute program in Lithuania, Azerbaijan and Liberia. The institute sought to employ reading and writing as tools to promote critical thinking in both post-Soviet and developing societies. From there, her global efforts led her to teach and provide outreach in Ecuador, Kuwait, Kosovo, China and beyond.
“Wendy has personally and professionally modeled cross-cultural engagement,” her nominators wrote. “She has built a career that has touched thousands of people around the world and a legacy of hundreds of future educators dedicated to global literacy and cross-cultural education.”
Perhaps her most significant cross-cultural engagement to date comes from her work as executive director of the International Book Bank (IBB). In partnership with CODE Canada, IBB increases global literacy by donating brand new books to charities in developing countries. Facing a near shut down, Saul restructured the administrative and operational processes of IBB two years ago. Now, back on strong footing, IBB has sent 1.5 million books this year alone to recipients in the developing world. Since its founding in 1987, IBB has shipped more than 25 million books across four continents. Most recently, books were sent to Liberia for children unable to attend school because of the Ebola crisis.
In addition to IBB, Saul serves as vice president of Critical Thinking International, a non-governmental organization that supports active learning and critical thinking in the developing world with a focus on developing materials and strategies that support student engagement in classrooms.
Reviewed 2019-10-01