It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Professor Emeritus Don Gallehr on March 7, 2026. Don was one of the earliest and longest serving faculty members hired at George Mason University, with a career stretching from 1966, when the university was still a satellite campus of the University of Virginia, until his retirement in 2021. He was also one of the most dedicated.
A national leader in writing instruction, Don founded the Northern Virginia Writing Project (NVWP) at George Mason in 1977, one of the first National Writing Project sites, and for four decades led a Summer Institute for teachers from schools across the region. Don’s career has been anchored by two key principles he fostered through NVWP: writing teachers must write and teachers are the best teachers of other teachers. Many of the teacher consultants who came through NVWP programs were directly influenced by Don and in turn influenced their peers and their students throughout Northern Virginia and beyond. Don’s commitment to the practice of writing was evident in every class he taught.
During his 55 years at George Mason, Don taught over 11,000 students, and as he says in the video below, he completed every writing assignment he gave his students. In teaching, he wanted to understand first-hand what was difficult for his students; in leading teacher institutes, he aimed to build networks of teachers who could support each other and keep the practice of engaged teaching and writing alive. He was awarded both the George Mason Teaching Excellence Award and the David J. King Award in recognition of his significant contributions to education excellence at Mason.
Meditation was an important part of Don’s daily life and his writing life. A number of his publications explored meditation as part of the composition process, work that brought him to the attention of the Dalai Lama, who invited Don to work with 33 Buddhist monks in a workshop in northern India in 2010. In an article written on the occasion of his 50th year at George Mason, he said, “They were the happiest group of students I have ever taught…. They would laugh their heads off.” His wrote two books that extend his attention to care and community to a wider audience, Finished Business: Taking Care of a Loved One With a Terminal Illness (2021) and Be Gentle: Ten Ways to Bring Peace to Yourself and Others (2020).
For all of this and more, Don was a deeply valued friend and colleague whose warmth and humor livened committee meetings, department parties, and hallway encounters. He welcomed generations of faculty to the English Department and helped set the collegial tone that we continue to enjoy. One way to honor his memory is through donations to the Dr. Don Gallehr Fund for the Support of the Education of Writers. Another is to write, teach, and live with the thoughtfulness, grace, and presence that he shared with all of us during more than a half century in the English Department.