As this issue of Middle Grades Research Journal goes to press, it is with great sadness that we have learned of the untimely passing of our respected colleague, mentor, and friend, Vincent A. Anfara, Jr. on July 15, 2013. Vince was a tireless advocate for young adolescents, the adults who teach in middle-level schools, and scholars who engage in research into the multifaceted phenomena that constitute the middle level.
Vince earned a BS from the College of Santa Fe, an MS from Notre Dame University and an MS from the University of South Florida. He received his PhD from the University of New Orleans. He served as department head at the University of Tennessee for the past 5 years and served as president of the Faculty Senate during 2011-12. Prior to becoming a professor, he worked for 23 years in both middle and high schools in Louisiana and New Mexico. His research interests focused on middle school reform, school improvement planning, leadership in middle schools, and issues related to student achievement, especially in the middle level.
Dr. Anfara was a prolific scholar, who authored more than 80 articles in such journals as the Middle School Journal, Research in Middle Level Education Annual, Education and Urban Society, The Journal of School
Leadership, NASSP Bulletin, and American Educational Research Association’s Educational Researcher. He is the author/editor of14 books related to middle level education and qualitative research. He served for over 6 years on the Association for Middle Level Education’s Research Advisory Board, including 3 years as its chair, and was a member of the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform. He was appointed an ERIC Content Expert in middle level education for 20072009. A recent member of the editorial board of Middle Grades Research Journal, Vince also served on the editorial board for the NASSP Bulletin. He was active in the American Educational Research Association, where he was elected by the general membership to the Special Interest Group Executive Committee. He was past-chair of the American Educational Research Association’s Middle Level Education Research Special Interest Group and was instrumental in revitalizing that group, bringing its membership to well over 150.
In addition to his many personal accomplishments, Vince was a faithful colleague, mentor, and friend. He quietly and consistently mentored both younger scholars and his colleagues. He befriended junior scholars and helped them become engaged with the middle grades issues and to find their home in the SIG for Middle Level Education Research. Through his leadership and support, the field of middle level research has grown and matured. He will be missed in ways that we have yet to comprehend. His legacy lives on in our efforts to support his vision of strong scholarship based on a commitment to the needs of young adolescents and the middle level schools they attend.
