Linda A. Meyer, Ph.D., died December 31, 2019, in Urbana, Illinois. She held B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Oregon.

Linda's connection with Direct Instruction began in Champaign at the University of Illinois, where, as a graduate student, she worked at the Bereiter- Engelmann Preschool and with another project with Down syndrome learners at the Children's Research Center.
Her work was instrumental in changing the expectations educators have of mentally developmentally delayed children. In the words of Doug Carnine, "In the past many believed that children with Down syndrome could not learn to read. In the 1960s Zig and Linda Meyer demonstrated that Down syndrome children could learn to read."

Linda came out to Oregon in the 70's to work on the Follow Through Project. She also worked with Engelmann and others in the development of the Corrective Reading Program. She returned to Illinois, and directed longitudinal research on children and learning at the Center for the Study of Reading. In 1996, she received the Harold Mitzel Award for Educational Practice from the Journal of Educational Research for the results of that study.

Donations in Linda's memory may be made to Crisis Nursery, Urbana. Go to crisisnursery.net or call 217-337-2731.