Diana Hacker (July 7, 1942 – January 12, 2004) was an American writer and educator who authored several prominent writing manuals. Her guide, ''A Writer's Reference'', co-written with Nancy Sommers, became the number one best-selling college textbook in the United States. According to the

Open Syllabus Project The Open Syllabus Project (OSP) is an online open-source platform that catalogs and analyzes millions of college syllabi. Founded by researchers from the American Assembly at Columbia University, the OSP has amassed the most extensive collecti ...

, Hacker is the most assigned female author on college campuses. Raised in

Washington, Illinois Washington is a city in Tazewell County, Illinois, United States. Washington is on U.S. Route 24 and Illinois Route 8, northeast of East Peoria. The population was 15,134 at the 2010 census, a 39.6 percent increase over 2000. It is a suburb of ...

, Hacker was an English

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Prince George's Community College Prince George's Community College (PGCC) is a public community college in Largo in Prince George's County, Maryland. The college serves Prince George's County and surrounding areas, including Washington, D.C. History Founded in 1958, Prince ...

(PGCC) for 35 years. Hacker is widely acknowledged for her contributions to the field of rhetoric and composition. She died of cancer in 2004.

Biography

Early life

Hacker was raised in

. Her father was a line worker for

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

who managed to move his family "squarely into the

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

" after becoming a

supervisor A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position that is primarily based on authority over workers or ...

. Hacker obtained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

English composition The term composition (from Latin ''com-'' "with" and ''ponere'' "to place") as it refers to writing, can describe writers' decisions about, processes for designing, and sometimes the final product of, a document. In original use, it tended to desc ...

from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

Academia

Hacker moved to

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in 1967 after her husband, Robert Hacker, a lawyer, obtained a job with the

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

. She briefly taught at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

before joining the faculty at

(PGCC). Hacker remained an English professor at PGCC for 35 years until her retirement in 2000. She continued tutoring after her retirement at the school's Writing Center. Hacker also chaired the

nominating committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

of the

Conference on College Composition and Communication The Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC, often referred to as "Four Cs") is a national professional association of college and university writing instructors in the United States. Formed in 1949 as an organization within t ...

(CCCC) at regional and national meetings.

''A Writer's Reference''

Hacker pitched the idea of ''A Writer's Reference'' to Bedford/St. Martin's in 1987. The handbook was designed for

ease of use Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a soft ...

, with an unprecedented "lie-flat" spiral binding and tabbed dividers. The handbook did not include worksheets or exercises and was intended to be used as a supplemental guide for students. The book offers correct

citations A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of ...

and

bibliographies Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

for papers in MLA,

CMS CMS may refer to: Computing * Call management system * CMS-2 (programming language), used by the United States Navy * Code Morphing Software, a technology used by Transmeta * Collection management system for a museum collection * Color manag ...

, or APA formats. According to Hacker, "It took me a while to convince Bedford of the value of my idea." Bedford president Chuck Christensen and co-publisher Joan Feinberg eventually bought the idea and the first edition of ''A Writer's Reference'' was published in 1989. ''A Writer's Reference'' sold nearly 3 million copies by 2004 and became a staple for college

freshmen A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

. It became the best-selling college textbook of any discipline. The book's success allowed Hacker to become a

millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. In countries that use the short scal ...

. Using some of the profits from her book sales, Hacker funded

scholarships A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarshi ...

for students.

Death

Hacker died from cancer on January 12, 2004, at the

George Washington University Hospital The George Washington University Hospital is a for-profit hospital, located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is affiliated with the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. The current facility opened on ...

Legacy

The Diana Hacker TYCA Outstanding Programs in English Award was formed in Hacker's honor and is sponsored by the

National Council of Teachers of English The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is a United States professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education. Since 1911, NCTE has provided a forum ...

along with Bedford/St. Martin's. The award is given out annually to two-year college teachers and their institutions for "exemplary programs in English studies and its related disciplines." Hacker is widely acknowledged for her contributions to the field of rhetoric and composition. A previous version of the

placed Hacker's guides, ''A Writer's Reference'' and ''A Pocket Style Manual,'' both co-written with Nancy Sommers, as the number one and number third assigned texts at American colleges, respectively and placed Hacker as the second most read female author on college campuses after

Kate L. Turabian Kate Larimore Turabian (born Laura Kate Larimore, February 26, 1893 – October 25, 1987) was an American educator who is best known for her book ''A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations''. In 2018 the Universit ...

. The newest version of the Open Syllabus Project places ''A Writer's Reference'' as the second most assigned text and Hacker as the most assigned female author (fifth overall). In total, Hacker's works appear on more than 25,500

syllabi A syllabus (; plural ''syllabuses'' or ''syllabi'') or specification is a document that communicates information about an academic course or class and defines expectations and responsibilities. It is generally an overview or summary of the curric ...

, ahead of

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...

. A syllabus obtained by ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'' revealed that First Lady

Jill Biden Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden (born June 3, 1951) is an American educator and the current first lady of the United States since 2021, as the wife of President Joe Biden. She was the second lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017 when her hus ...

, a professor of English at

Northern Virginia Community College Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC; informally known as NOVA) is a public community college composed of six campuses and four centers in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. Northern Virginia Community College is the third-la ...

, assigned Hacker and Sommer's ''Rules for Writers'' alongside comedian

Trevor Noah Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African-born comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and former television host. He was the host of ''The Daily Show'', an American late-night talk show and satirical news progra ...

's autobiography, ''

Born a Crime ''Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood'' is an autobiographical comedy book written by South African comedian Trevor Noah, published in 2016. A film adaptation is being produced by Paramount Players. Narrative The book details T ...

'', for her introductory English course. ''Rules for Writers'' is also given to prisoners participating in the

Bard Prison Initiative The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) is a program of Bard College that provides college education to people in prison. Currently operating in six prisons across New York State, BPI's academic programs engage students in the full breadth of liberal stud ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hacker, Diana People from Washington, Illinois People from Washington, D.C. American women writers English educators University of Illinois alumni Writers of style guides 1942 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers Writers from Illinois