Dr Hiller A. Spires

About Hiller

Dr. Spires currently serves as the Interim Executive Director and was also the founding director for the Friday Institute; she has been a Senior Research Fellow since 2006. She joined NC State University’s College of Education in 1987 after receiving her Ph.D. in Literacy Education from the University of South Carolina. For her cumulative work in the area of literacy and technology, Dr. Spires received the International Reading Association Award for Outstanding Writing in the Field of College Reading. She has also received several awards at NC State, including Outstanding Alumni Award in Outreach and Service for providing professional development seminars for teachers. In 2011, she received the Jackson A. Rigney International Service Award, and in 2012 she received NC State’s Alumni Distinguished Professor Award. Dr. Spires studies the integration of emerging technologies in order to illustrate research-based best practices for digital literacy learning with diverse populations. A current research focus is PBI Global, where students and teachers collaborate on inquiry projects across time, space and culture. She directs the New Literacies Collaborative and New Literacies & Global Learning master’s program, including the K-12 Literacy Cohort. Dr. Spires serves as honorary principal at Suzhou North America High School, which she helped create in 2016. Learn more about Dr. Spires.