Dr. Laura Ellis-Lai is a Professor of Instruction in the Department of English at Texas State University, where she is the Academic Program Director for a study abroad program to London & Cambridge and a Study-in-America travel writing and regional literature program in Central California. Dr. Ellis-Lai has directed the English Internship Program and teaches courses in technical writing, professional editing, advanced qualitative research, digital rhetorics, world literature, and travel writing. She has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Texas at San Antonio, an Ed.M. in Education from Harvard University, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Texas State University, and B.A.s in Literature and Psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Dr. Ellis-Lai has received the Presidential Distinction Award for Excellence in Teaching (2022), the Liberal Arts Golden Apple Award in Teaching (2022), and the Excellence in Online Teaching Award, Runner Up (2021). In 2023, she was named “Best University Professor” by San Marcos Daily Record’s readers. She has twice been named an Alpha Chi Favorite Professor and was invited to serve as an Honorary Coach at a Texas State University Football game and a Women’s Volleyball game. Dr. Ellis-Lai has joined and directed graduate and undergraduate thesis committees, developed international education programs, advised the English Honor Society, supervised and evaluated graduate teaching assistants, coordinated service learning activities for English students in the San Marcos community, and taught face-to-face, hybrid, and asynchronous-online courses for the Department of English, the Honors College, University Seminar, and the Texas State Intensive English (TSIE) Program since 2006.
Dr. Ellis-Lai’s office is located in Flowers Hall on the Texas State University campus in San Marcos, and she may be reached via email at EllisLai@txstate.edu or over the phone at 512-245-7678.