Donna A. Gessell
About
Scholar, teacher, Peace Corps Volunteer, and writer — a life shaped by language, literature, and the places books can take you.
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Dr. Donna A. Gessell
Professor Emerita, UNG
Professor Emerita, UNG
Donna A. Gessell, PhD
Professor Emerita of English · University of North Georgia
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Donna A. Gessell is Professor Emerita of English at the University of North Georgia, where she spent more than three decades teaching literature, linguistics, and the art of writing. She holds a doctorate in English Literature from Case Western Reserve University.
Before her academic career took shape, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Fiji from 1979 to 1982 — an experience that became the defining story of her life outside the classroom and the subject of her widely read essay, Living by the Book.
Education & Credentials
PhD
English LiteratureCase Western Reserve University
MA
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BA
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2017
Distinguished Teaching AwardUniversity of North Georgia
1979–82
Peace Corps Volunteer — FijiVillage of Naqelewai · Women’s Community Leadership
Beyond the Classroom
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Now
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