Academic Writer's Studio is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization in Richmond, Virginia.
As a nonprofit organization our mission is to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education by expanding access to academic editing, coaching, and other forms of support for scholars. We want to help scholars become more productive, engaged, and satisfied with their workplaces and careers. On the largest scale, our goal is to break down barriers to inclusivity in academia, creating a more welcoming environment for all faculty and, in turn, for people they teach, mentor, and serve. We could not be more thrilled to be doing this work, and we love to tell people about AWS and talk about academic research, so please don’t hesitate to contact us directly.
Team
Laura S. Holliday, PhD
Founder, Executive Director
Dr. Holliday brings to Academic Writers Studio three decades of experience in higher education and supporting college faculty, including particular commitment to and specialization in writing and faculty development. After earning her BA in Public Policy from Duke University, she completed a PhD in English and Women’s Studies at the University of California—Santa Barbara. In that capacity, she was actively engaged in faculty development and in research on writing across the curriculum. Following a postdoctoral faculty fellowship at UCSB, she accepted a tenure-track position at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. She left that position in 2007, after becoming a parent, to work more independently; since then, she has worked as the research coordinator for Virginia Commonwealth University’s Institute for Women’s Health, taught at VCU, been the curriculum consultant for a nonprofit professional development program, and created and edited content for a mobile app aimed at helping first-generation college students navigate academic culture.
The bulk of her work over the past decade, however, has been in editing academic manuscripts and coaching academic authors. In that capacity, she has shepherded a number of manuscripts through the publication process, worked with a wide range of authors and presses, and also assisted authors with articles, grant and book proposals, tenure files, and other kinds of professional writing. She was inspired to create the Academic Writers Studio because she saw disparities in access to editing services as well as to broader-based kinds of support and information related to scholarly productivity, and her goal is to do what she can to mitigate those disparities by providing that support in affordable ways.
See Laura’s full CV here: acadwr.it/cv
T. Berkeley Goodloe
Co-Founder, Director of Operations and Finance
Prior to his current role at Academic Writers Studio, Mr. Goodloe spent over 15 years in the financial services sector, where he served in a variety of leadership and operational roles. During this time, he developed extensive knowledge of and experience in project implementation, managing and mentoring teams with multiple processes and deadlines, vendor management, accounting, treasury, and credit principles.
His transition from banking to supporting higher education began when he left the financial sector to work as the education director for a nonprofit banking association. There he was responsible for developing curriculum and individual classes; designing and leading webinars; interacting with students, including recruiting, enrollment processing, handling customer service, selling educational content, and representing the organization at trade shows. That experience sparked further interest in higher and adult education and professional development. Since joining the Studio, he has worked on creating programs for college students and on supporting academic authors’ preparation of manuscripts for press review and publication, including editing, formatting to press standards, and indexing. Throughout, he has brought his technological skills to bear as well, providing IT support and developing systems for maximizing the smooth flow of information.
Mr. Goodloe holds a BA in Liberal Arts from the University of Richmond as well as an associate’s degree in web development from ECPI Technical College and a certificate from the Virginia Bankers Association’s School of Bank Management at the University of Virginia. His combination of education and experience offer an ideal skill set for his role as treasurer, operations director, and program manager, in which he ensures that all the systems required for the Studio to function smoothly are operating at the highest level as well as assisting with media and fundraising and providing direct support to AWS clients.
Julia M. Garrett, PhD
Julia M. Garrett, PhD, the current Lead Editor and Coach, has an undergraduate degree in English and American Literature from Harvard College, and completed an interdisciplinary PhD in Renaissance Literature and Women’s Studies at the University of California-Santa Barbara. After twelve years working as a full-time faculty member, she returned to graduate study for administrative training in Composition and Rhetoric at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. For her second PhD she has also trained as a qualitative social science researcher working with immigrant communities. Her doctoral training spans scholarship and research paradigms in Writing Pedagogy, Literacy Studies, Education, Rhetoric, Migration Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, Community Engaged Research, Curriculum and Instruction, Multilingual Writing, Literature, Sociology of Race, History, Religious Studies, Ethnography, Criminology, and the History of Law. During the past five years at UW-Madison she has worked for the university as a Writing Consultant with graduate students and faculty in over a dozen disciplines across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. And as a freelance Writing Consultant she specializes in working with international scholars who require expertise about the conventions of U.S. academic discourse. Her extensive experience as a mentor as well as her excellent technical skills in writing and editing make her an exceptional asset to Academic Writers Studio as member of our nonprofit organization team.
