Pullias co-director William G. Tierney wins ASHE Distinguished Career Award

William G. Tierney, co-director of the Pullias Center for Higher Education, has been awarded the prestigious Howard R. Bowen Distinguished Career Award for 2018 by the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE).

Established to honor an individual “whose professional life has been devoted in substantial part to the study of higher education and whose career has significantly advanced the field through extraordinary scholarship, leadership and service,” the Distinguished Career Award is usually presented at, or near, the time of the individual’s retirement. The scholarly society will confer the award at its annual meeting in Tampa, Fla., on Nov. 15.

Tierney is University Professor and Wilbur-Kieffer Professor of Higher Education in the USC Rossier School of Education. A past president of both ASHE and the American Educational Research Association (AERA), he is widely recognized as an influential figure in higher education research. Tierney is also an elected member of the National Academy of Education, a disciplinary society of 200 individuals recognized for their outstanding scholarship and contributions to education.

Tierney has written and edited more than 80 books and monographs on a wide range of topics concerning higher education. He has held Fulbright Scholarships to Central America, Australia and India, and has been Scholar-in-Residence in University Sains Malaysia, and an interdisciplinary research fellow at the University of Hong Kong. He recently was awarded the Distinguished Research Award from Division J of AERA.

Adrianna Kezar, co-director of the Pullias Center and professor of higher education at USC Rossier, nominated Tierney for the award. “Bill has been one of the most influential and prolific figures in higher education,” Kezar said. “I knew I had to nominate him as this award is given to honor an amazing career. I was confident the award committee would see that Bill deserves the award—He has made a real mark on higher education scholarship and been a leader in the field.”

“I look back at the previous awardees and am honored I now join this crowd,” said Tierney. “If I deserve this award, it’s because of the many people who have taken me to task when my writing was weak, my ideas unclear, or my emotion in front of reason. I have learned the most from my graduate students. Reading their work improves my work, and I’m one lucky fellow.”