In this issue: - College of Education - Purdue University

he College of Education
lost an extraordinary educator,
colleague, alumna,
and friend on Monday, December
19, 2005. Dr. Susan Nierstheimer,
Assistant Professor in Literacy and Language,
lost her
battle with cancer.
Her shoes
will be difficult
to fill. Throughout
her career she
reached and inspired so many with her
deep love of teaching and her uncanny
ability to connect with her students and
fellow educators.
After receiving her bachelor’s degree
from Illinois State University, Nier-
Susan Nierstheimer
stheimer taught for a number of years in
the elementary public schools. She later
earned a master’s degree from Illinois
State University and went on to earn a
Ph.D. in Literacy and Language from Purdue
University in 1996. After earning her
Ph.D. she taught
“She could find the
bright side of anything.”
literacy education
courses at
Purdue to future
teachers. In 1997
she accepted a
teaching position at Illinois State University
where she taught undergraduate and
graduate students for five years. Then,
in 2002, Dr. Nierstheimer returned to
Purdue’s Department of Curriculum and
Instruction to again teach literacy education
courses.
In the fall of 2003 Nierstheimer
was diagnosed
with a particularly aggressive
form of cancer.
However, she
made the choice to
continue to teach
despite her illness.
Carol Hopkins,
Professor of Curriculum
and Instruction,
mentioned,
“She even thanked her
students for allowing
her to continue to teach.
She was able to put everyone
at ease with her
illness and would crack
jokes at her own expense.”
“She could find
the bright side of anything,”
explained Sarah
Mahurt. Phil Van-
Fossen said, “Personally,
I was moved by her commitment to
teach—even when she was very ill.”
Nierstheimer’s scholarly focus was improving
literacy instruction. She was especially
interested in helping struggling
readers, teacher preparation, and schooluniversity
partnerships that provide mutually
beneficial professional development.
Her literacy methods textbook,
coauthored with Dr. Susan Davis Lenski,
Becoming a Teacher of Reading: A Developmental
Approach (Prentice Hall, 2004)
was written to instill in future teachers
the joy of helping children learn to read.
Lenski explained, “When working with
Susan on our book she had such insight
and knowledge about early readers that I
learned a great deal from her.”
Nierstheimer had a profound effect on
everyone around her—fellow teachers,
college students, university supervisors,
and friends. “It was my privilege to have
worked with and known her,” mentioned
She was creative, strong,
devoted, imaginative,
kind, and gracious.
Jane Fischer, Nierstheimer’s supervisor
for her Block IV class. Susan Gunderson
formed a friendship with Nierstheimer
when they were both graduate students in
the department of Literacy and Language.
A few years later they became colleagues
who worked closely sharing teaching experiences
and classroom ideas. Susan said, “I
particularly enjoyed her positive attitude,
her delightful sense of humor and the way
she never took herself too seriously.”
In reference to Nierstheimer’s class-
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