Maria Coady is the Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Education at North Carolina State University and Professor of Multilingual Education. Her interdisciplinary scholarship examines bilingualism and multilingualism, language and education in rural communities, and the preparation of educators to work with multilingual learners. Grounded in equity and place-conscious approaches, her research explores the relationships among language, culture, community knowledge, and educational opportunity.

With more than two decades of experience in the United States and internationally, Dr. Coady has prepared educators in rural schools and communities and researched multilingual education and language rights. She serves on advisory boards, including two terms as the Eastern Region Representative of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) (2023-26, 2026-29) and works as Editor-in-Chief of the NABE Journal of Research and Practice. Dr. Coady has received three Fulbright awards in Ukraine (2013), South Africa (2016), and Poland (2021-22), where she served as Distinguished Chair in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznań). In 2020, she received the American Educational Research Association (AERA)’s Exemplary Contributions to Practice-Engaged Research Award. She has consulted with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office for Civil Rights on matters related to language education.

Beyond academic publishing, Dr. Coady uses documentary filmmaking, oral histories, and digital storytelling to amplify rural community voices and share knowledge beyond traditional academic spaces. She is the creator and host of Rural Voices in Education, a podcast exploring the linguistic and cultural wealth of rural communities.