Reid Lyon
{{Short description|American neuroscientist}}
{{Infobox academic
| birth_name = George Reid Lyon
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1949}}
| education = {{unbulleted list
|North Carolina Wesleyan University
}}
| thesis_title = The neuropsychological characteristics of subgroups of learning disabled readers
| thesis_year = 1978
| footnotes =
}}
Reid Lyon (born 1949) is a neuroscientist (neuropsychology), specialist in learning disorders, and researcher on the science of reading.
Early life, military service, and education
Lyon had difficulty learning to read as a child, receiving help from his mother in decoding words. While his reading improved over time, he did not become proficient until middle school. Lyon credits his reading difficulties as part of his motivation to study the neurobiological basis of individual differences in reading development.
Lyon joined the army in 1967, and was a paratrooper, recon sergeant, and "tunnel rat" for fifteen months in Vietnam, including in the Tet Offensive, winning the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman Badge, , the Parachutist Badge, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, with Palm, and the Army Commendation Medal among others.{{cn|date=April 2023}}
After returning home, he attended North Carolina Wesleyan University, receiving a BA in psychology in 1973 then an MA and Ph.D. with highest honors in Neuropsychology (neuroscience) and Learning Disorders and Disabilities (combined five year program) from the University of New Mexico, followed by a fellowship in neuroscience at the University of New Mexico Medical Center the following year.{{cite podcast
| url=https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2022/10/20/sold-a-story-e2-the-idea
| title=Sold a Story E2: The Idea
| publisher=American Public Media
| host=Emily Hanford
| date=2022-10-20
| access-date=2023-02-11
Career
Lyon joined the faculty of Communication Science and Disorders at Northwestern University in 1980 where he also directed the neuropsychology laboratory. In 1983 Lyon was recruited by the Stern Center for Language and Learning where he served as the director of research and a clinical associate associate professor of neurology at the University of Vermont Medical School. He served as a member of the NIH Maternal and Child Health Review Group/Study Section and chaired review groups evaluating NICHD Dyslexia program projects and the NICHD Learning Disability Research Centers.
From 1992 to 2005, Lyon served as a research neuropsychologist and the chief of the Child Development and Behavior Branch of the NICHD at the National Institutes of Health; in this role he developed and oversaw research programs in cognitive neuroscience, learning and reading development and disorders, behavioral pediatrics, cognitive and affective development, School Readiness, and the Spanish to English Reading Research program. He designed, developed and directed the 44-site NICHD Reading Research Network.{{Cite journal |last=Lyon |first=G. Reid | title=In celebration of science in the study of reading development, reading difficulties, and reading instruction: The NICHD perspective | journal=Issues in Education | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=5 | issue=1 | year=1999 | issn=1080-9724 | doi=10.1016/s1080-9724(99)00017-8 | pages=85–115}}{{Cite news |last=Chenowith |first=Karen |date=March 7, 2002 |title=In Teaching Reading, Theory Abounds but Practice Falls Short |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2002/03/07/in-teaching-reading-theory-abounds-but-practice-falls-short/7287ffa3-87bb-4dd7-b6c3-ecffac007c29/ |access-date=2023-07-08 |newspaper=Washington Post}}{{Cite news |last=Bowler |first=Mike |date=November 19, 1997 |title=Reading doesn't come naturally: Research Neuro-psychologist takes his multimedia show to concerned parents, and acknowledges he doesn't have all the answers. |work=The Baltimore Sun}}
Lyon testified yearly from 1997 to 2005 before Senate and House committees informing them of progress in the science of reading, learning disabilities, Head Start, early childhood development,{{Cite news |last=Bowler |first=Mike |date=December 10, 2000 |title=Developing Skills In Early Childhood |work=Baltimore Sun}} and the translation of science into policy.
As part of his role at the NIH, Lyon advised President George W. Bush{{Cite news |last=Schemo |first=Diana |date=January 19, 2002 |title=Now the Pressure Begins For Bush's Reading Expert |pages=1–2 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/19/us/now-the-pressure-begins-for-bush-s-reading-expert.html |access-date=2023-07-08 |work=New York Times}}{{Cite news |last=Davis |first=Bob |date=April 23, 2001 |title=NIH Researcher Makes Phonics Focus Of Bush's Reading Initiative |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB987974577605221898 |work=Wall Street Journal}} and First Lady Laura Bush{{Cite news |last=Greene |first=Michael |date=May 5, 2005 |title=Bush Reading Czar To Visit School |work=Hartford Courant}}{{Cite book |last=Kessler |first=Ronald |title=Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady |publisher=Doubleday |year=2006 |location=New York, NY}} on reading science, reading development and disorders, and early childhood development. He advised the George W. Bush administration on education science to policy{{Cite news |last=Rothstein |first=Richard |date=September 5, 2001 |title=LESSONS; Consensus In Reading War If Sides Would Only Look |page=7 |newspaper=The New York Times}}{{Cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Richard |last2=Colvin |first2=Richard |date=October 23, 1998 |title=If You Can't Read This You are Not Alone |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-oct-23-ls-35470-story.html |access-date=2023-07-08 |pages=6–7 |work=Los Angeles Times}} contributing to the No Child Left Behind and especially the Reading First program.{{Cite news |last=Strauss |first=Valerie |date=February 26, 2002 |title=Relying On Science To Teach Children To Read |pages=7–8 |newspaper=Washington Post}}{{cite news |last=Shaughnessy |first=Michael F. | title=Interview with Reid Lyon: Reading First is the largest concerted reading intervention program in the history of the civilized world. | work=EducationNews | date=2008-05-05 | url=http://www.educationnews.org/articles/25335/1/Interview-with-Reid-Lyon-Reading-First-is-the-largest-concerted-reading-intervention-program-in-the-history-of-the-civilized-world/Page1.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809042405/http://www.educationnews.org/articles/25335/1/Interview-with-Reid-Lyon-Reading-First-is-the-largest-concerted-reading-intervention-program-in-the-history-of-the-civilized-world/Page1.html | archive-date=2011-08-09 | url-status=dead | access-date=2023-07-08}}
He also worked on the Definition Consensus Project with the International Dyslexia Association{{cite web | title=Definition Consensus Project | website=International Dyslexia Association | date=2014-11-07 | url=https://dyslexiaida.org/definition-consensus-project/ | access-date=2023-02-11}} and he co-authored the publication that defined dyslexia.{{cite journal | last1=Lyon | first1=G. Reid | last2=Shaywitz | first2=Sally E. | last3=Shaywitz | first3=Bennett A. | title=A definition of dyslexia | journal=Annals of Dyslexia | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=53 | issue=1 | year=2003 | issn=0736-9387 | doi=10.1007/s11881-003-0001-9 | pages=1–14}}
Lyon is the author and co-author of over 130 per reviewed journal articles, books, and book chapters addressing developmental neuroscience, learning and reading disorders/dyslexia, and the translation of science into practice and policy.{{cn|date=April 2023}}
After leaving the NIH, Lyon had professorships at the University of Texas, Dallas and Southern Methodist University, then served at the Lee County VA Clinic in Cape Coral, Florida, helping veterans with substance abuse and PTSD.
Honors
Lyon is a distinguished scientist emeritus in neuroscience and cognition at the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas, Dallas and a distinguished professor emeritus at Southern Methodist University.{{cite web | title=G. Reid Lyon | website=Guilford Press | date=2018-11-21 | url=https://www.guilford.com/author/G-Reid-Lyon | access-date=2023-02-11}} He received the NIH Directors Award twice. Once for his contributions to the neuroscience of learning and learning disorders. The second for his design and development of the NICHD Reading Research Program. Among other awards, Lyon was a recipient of the 2000 Samuel Torrey Orton Award{{cite journal | last=Lyon | first=G. Reid | title=Acceptance of the Samuel Torrey Orton Award November 2000, Washington, D.C. | journal=Annals of Dyslexia | publisher=Springer | volume=51 | year=2001 | issn=0736-9387 | jstor=23765358 | pages=3–7| doi=10.1007/s11881-001-0002-5 }} from and gave the 2005 Norman Geschwind Memorial Lecture{{cite journal | last=Olson | first=Richard K. | title=Genes, environment, and dyslexia the 2005 Norman Geschwind memorial lecture | journal=Annals of Dyslexia | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=56 | issue=2 | year=2006 | issn=0736-9387 | doi=10.1007/s11881-006-0010-6 | pages=205–238| pmid=17849199 }} to the International Dyslexia Association. He also received the Vietnam Veterans of America Excellence in The Sciences Award for contributions to educating veterans about the neuroscience of Combat PTSD in 2013.{{Cite journal |last=Holyman |first=Loanna |date=September–October 2013 |title=PTSD and Our Reptilian Brain: Reid Lyon's Neurological Research |journal=The VVA Veteran |volume=33 |issue=5 |url=https://vvaveteran.org/33-5/33-5_reidlyon.html |pages=1–5}}