Dr. Mary Lamb

Associate Dean College of Arts and Sciences; Professor of English

Office: Faculty Hall 126
English
College of Arts & Sciences
MaryLamb@clayton.edu
Phone: (678) 466-4706

Biography

Mary R. Lamb is Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of English at Clayton State University. She was a USG Executive Leadership Fellow in 2022-23. The Peer Academic Mentoring Program she co-developed won the 2022 Regents’ Momentum Year Award for Excellence in Teaching and Curricular Innovation for the University System of Georgia. From 2008-2017, she was director of first-year writing at Clayton State, where she instituted ePortfolio assessment. From 2000-2008, she was a lecturer and senior lecturer at Georgia State University in the department of English and served as assistant director of lower division studies, where she mentored Graduate Teaching Assistants and developed curriculum and policy. She held the Clayton State University Tommy Clonts’ University Professorship 2014-16 for her dedication to improving public education. She was on the founding and governing board, and now serves on the advisory board, of The Museum School of Avondale Estates, a DeKalb County K-8 charter school, awarded the top charter school in the state 2019, by GCSA.

Education

Ph D, English, Texas Christian University, 2001

MA, English, Georgia State University, 1994

BA, English, Furman University, 1987

Awards and Honors

Executive Leadership Institute Fellow, University System of Georgia Executive Leadership Institute, Award, 2023

Regents’ Momentum Year Award for Excellence in Teaching and Curricular Innovation for the University System of Georgia for the Peer Academic Mentoring Program, University System of Georgia, , 2022

Tommy Clonts University Professorship, Clayton State University, Honor, 2016

Intellectual Contributions

Lynee Lewis Gaillet, Mary R Lamb, Cantice Greene, Matthew Sansbury, et al. , "Inspiring Collegiality: A Roundtable on Intergenerational Mentoring", Peitho – Fall 2023

Mary Lamb, Jennifer Parrott, Digital Reading and Writing in Composition Studies, Routledge, Taylor and Francis – April 2019

Mary Lamb, Contested Writing: Reconceptualizing Literacy Competitions, Cambridge Scholars Publishing – February 7 2013

Mary Lamb, Teaching Nonfiction through Rhetorical Reading, English Journal, NCTE – March 2010

Mary Lamb, “The ‘Talking Life’ of Books: Constructing Women Readers in Oprah’s Book Club.”, U of Toronto Press – 2005

Contracts, Grants, and Sponsored Research

Mary Lamb, Sipai Klein, Peer Academic Mentors in First-Year Writing, Department of Education, Federal, 91000, Funded – October 2016 to September 2021

Jennifer M. Parrott, Mary R. Lamb, Matthew Sansbury, Sipai Klein, Margaret Fletcher, ALG English 1101 Textbook Grant, USG, State, 30000, Funded – March 2021 to May 2022

Presentations

Mary Lamb, Donna Qualley, Cheryl Smith, "Collaborative Reading: Texts, Screens, and Para-readers," in Sustaining Reading and Cultivating Writing in Crowded Digital Spaces, Conference on College Composition and Communication, College Composition and Communication – March 16 2017

Mary Lamb, "Rhetorical Approaches to Alice Walker's Fiction", Conversations Among Partners in Learning, Georgia State University – February 21 2009

Mary Lamb, "Teaching Nonfiction for Democratic Engagement: Habits of Reading, Writing, and Thinking", National Council of Teachers of English, NCTE – November 20 2010

Service to the University & University System of Georgia

University System, Council Advisory Group for Colleges on Arts and Sciences, Academic Affairs, USG, Committee Member – September 1 2025 to Present

University, Academic Advising Council (AAC) for NISS Initiative, Committee Member – January 23 2026 to Present

University, Academic Administrator (Chairs and Assistant/Associate Deans) Performance Evaluation Revision Committee, Chairperson – September 2021 to April 2022

University, Academic Program Assessment Council (APAC), Committee Member – July 1 2025 to Present

University, Accreditation Reaffirmation Committee , Chairperson – January 10 2022 to April 5 2024

University System, Board of Regents Advisory Council for Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment, Committee Member – July 14 2023 to July 1 2024

Service to the Profession

Reviewer, Book, Routledge Taylor and Francis April 1 2024 to May 25 2024

Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Faculty Dossier for Promotion to Full Professor, Dept. of English, USC Lancaster July 15 2024 to July 30 2024

Service to the Community

Member, Principal's Advisory Council, Druid Hills High School, DeKalb County Schools, Regional – August 1 2020 to February 1 2022

Workshop Organizer, Clayton County Public Schools, Local – June 9 2025 to June 11 2025

Board Member, The Museum School of Avondale Estates Board of Directors, Regional – September 2008 to June 2010

Teaching Interest

She teaches writing and literature courses, and courses in pedagogy for aspiring teachers.

Research Interest

Her research focuses on twentieth-century rhetorical theory, cultural rhetorical criticism, composition pedagogy, especially feminist and collaborative pedagogy, and writing program administration. Publications include the co-authored “Inspiring Collegiality: A Roundtable on Intergenerational Mentoring,” with Lynée Lewis Gaillet et al. in Cain and Goldwaithe, eds. Reclaiming the Work of Wendy Bishop as Rhetorical Feminist Mentoring, special issue of Peitho 26.1 (Fall 2023); the scholarly edited book Blurred Lines: Digital Reading and Writing in Composition Studies, ed., Routledge 2019; the scholarly edited book Contested(ed) Writing: Re-conceptualizing Literacy Competitions, ed., Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013; “Teaching Nonfiction through Rhetorical Reading,” in English Journal 99.4 (Spring 2010); “The ‘Talking Life’ of Books: Constructing Women Readers in Oprah’s Book Club,” in Reading Women: Literary Figures and Cultural Icons from the Victorian Age to the Present, Ed. Janet Badia and Jennifer Phegley, U of Toronto P, 2005; Successful Regents’ Essays: A Sourcebook for Writers (with Marti Singer), 2^{nd edition}, Houghton Mifflin, 2005; “The Memory Palace in Paula Vogel’s Plays,” (with Alan Shepard) in Southern Women Playwrights: New Essays in Literary History, Criticism, and Performance, Ed. Rob McDonald and Linda Rohrer Paige, University of Alabama Press, 2001.