An expert in English and speech therapy, Dr. Myra B. Weiger became involved in her profession because as a little girl, her parents were big on teaching her how to read and write. She would pretend to be a teacher with her dog, Gingy. In addition, her father, Jules J., was an educator in the family as an attorney. Her older sister also went to school to be a teacher. Dr. Weiger herself was considering being a musician, but even with that, she would inevitably seek out becoming a teacher. She always loved school, from kindergarten through college.
Dr. Weiger began her professional career as an English teacher with the Irvington Board of Education in 1956, quickly joining Gary Public Schools as a speech therapist from 1956 to 1957 and teacher of the deaf from 1957 to 1959. She then served Kean University in Union, New Jersey, as an elementary education teacher from 1964 to 1970, and later as a professor and chair of the Departments of Elementary, Middle and Secondary Education and Educational Administration in 1970. In addition to this tenure, Dr. Weiger has spoken extensively in her field.
Prior to the start of her career, Dr. Weiger pursued a formal education at Montclair State University in New Jersey, earning a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in 1956. She then attended Kean University, where she received a Master of Arts in 1967, and went on to attain an EdD from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in 1977. Additionally, Dr. Weiger is certified in elementary education, secondary English, drama, speech therapy and special education.
Having completed much research in the areas of writing, English education and character education, Dr. Weiger extends her talents through her affiliations with the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the executive board of the NCTE, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the Association of Teacher Educators, Phi Delta Kappa and Kappa Delta Pi. In light of her many achievements, she was given a Certificate of Appreciation by the Humane Society of the United States in 1989. She was also awarded the Award for Promoting Aerospace Education by the Civil Air Patrol in 1994 and the Outstanding Alumnus Award by Kean University in 1996. More recently, Dr. Weiger received the Jean Harris Award for Devoted Service Above Self from Rotary International in 2012. Notably, she was selected for inclusion in the eighth edition of Who’s Who in American Education, the 27th edition of Who’s Who in the East and four editions of Who’s Who in America.
If Dr. Weiger could put her life’s work into one statement, it would be that she cared very much about other people and seeing them succeed. She would like to be remembered by her peers as someone who was approachable, positive and made everyone comfortable. What motivated her is that she loved teaching, and she has been successful in teaching a variety of things. She used these experiences to help her students to learn because without experience, you are really limited on what you know. The advice that Dr. Weiger can offer others aspiring to work in her profession is to have a sense of humor and be approachable. Think first before you speak, and don’t burst out. Smile at things and don’t go around upsetting people.
