Amy Devitt was born on February 14, 1955. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in English from Trinity University in 1977 before earning her Masters of Art degree from KU in 1979 and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1982.

Devitt joined the KU faculty in 1985, serving as an Assistant Professor of English. She became an Associate Professor in 1988 and earned the Conger-Gabel Teaching Professorship in 2001. Devitt was awarded a Keeler Family Intra-University Professorship in 2002 and a Francis L. Stiefel Professorship in 2012. In addition to her faculty duties, she also served as the director of the KU Writing Center from 1985-1989 and the director of the First- and Second-Year English Program from 1994 – 2000 and 2010 - 2013.

Devitt’s research focuses on rhetorical genres, language usage, and English grammar and its social significance. She has authored or edited four books, including Landmark Essays on Rhetorical Genre Studies (co-edited, 2019), Writing Genres (2004), Scenes of Writing: Strategies for Composing with Genres (co-authored, 2004), and Standardizing Written English: Diffusion in the Case of Scotland 1520-1659 (1989).

Amy Devitt retired in 2020. She currently serves as a Professor Emerita of English with KU.

[Information taken from University Archives morgue file and collection materials.]