Louise Wetherbee Phelps

Louise Wetherbee Phelps is a longtime scholar and educator in the disciplinary study of writing. She helped develop this field as a modern discipline through her foundational scholarly writings and pioneering work as a program developer and leader. In recognition of her career contributions and service to the profession, she received the 2022 Exemplar Award from the Conference on College Composition and Communication. Since retiring as Emeritus Professor of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition at Syracuse University, she continues to contribute to doctoral education at Old Dominion University as Scholar-in-Residence and Adjunct Professor, working with students and faculty as an advisor and mentor.

Dr. Phelps is an active scholar and writer, recently focusing on literacy and aging, writing over the lifespan, and cross-generational relations. Her current work combines research on literacy and aging with a lifespan study of herself and her late mother, Virginia Wetherbee, as writers and readers, linked by their shared memories, stories, and literate identities. Publishing Virginia's memoir, The Rosetta Stone, is one part of this multifaceted project.