Lori Bruner

Lori Bruner is an assistant professor in the Department of Literacy Teaching & Learning. She joined the University at Albany faculty in 2024. Broadly, her research explores how texts (both printed and digital) can support early literacy development, with a particular interest in how digital media can support children’s vocabulary learning. Her recent work includes a content analysis of vocabulary in 70 best-selling preschool storybook apps (funded by the International Literacy Association) and the development of a digital platform for evaluating and using AI-generated content in elementary classrooms (funded by the National Science Foundation). Dr. Bruner was named a Reading Hall of Fame Emerging Scholar Fellow in 2022 and is the recipient of multiple research awards for her work: the 2023 ILA Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan Outstanding Dissertation Award, the 2023 AERA Research in Reading and Literacy Dissertation Award for Literacy Excellence, and the 2024 AERA Vocabulary Research Award.