I first met Sue in 2005, when she gave a professional development session at the PTE where I worked at the time. Little did I know she would become a good friend and mentor. She was one of my thesis supervisors, always strict, but always kind. After that I worked alongside Sue, teaching and tutoring at the University of Waikato, creating resources, and facilitating workshops at the National Centre of Literacy and Numeracy for Adults. We also co-facilitated a course at Ako Aotearoa. I loved having a coffee and a chat in her office, which was always overflowing with books and piles of student work to be marked.

She put her heart and soul into her work, often working until the small hours, and was deeply committed to improving support for dyslexic learners and those with reading difficulties. She taught a great many educators, and through them, she touched the lives of thousands of learners. She made a huge, lasting impact on literacy education in Aotearoa New Zealand, across primary, secondary and tertiary education. Many will remember her cheeky sense of humour, and the stories she told of the goings-on in the Dymock family. 

Sue was born in 1954 in Portland, Oregon. Growing up, she loved the outdoors, skiing, water skiing, swimming and camping. Her family had a cabin on the slope of Mt Hood, where they spent many happy hours. When she was 17, she met the love of her life, Wynne Dymock, a New Zealand ski instructor who was working on the mountain that winter.  Sue and Wynne married in 1974 and soon afterwards, at the age of 19, they moved to New Zealand, where Sue continued her studies at the University of Waikato, graduating with a Bachelor of Social Science, majoring in Politics.

After their three children, James, David and Louise, were born, Sue decided to return to academic study, studying literacy. Her 1997 PhD thesis focused on reading comprehension and won her the prestigious USA National Reading Council outstanding research award.

Sue taught at Woodstock Primary School, Bankwood Primary School, Berkley Normal Intermediate School and Fairfield Intermediate School, all in Hamilton, and in 1999 she joined the University of Waikato as a Lecturer in the Department of Arts and Language Education. She was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2003.

She published and co-authored many books and journal articles on dyslexia, writing skills, spelling, vocabulary, reading comprehension,  reading difficulties, and literacy interventions. Many of her publications were co-authored with Emeritus Professor Tom Nicholson from Massey University. She was also part of the team who developed the Learning Progressions for Adult Literacy and the Starting Points guides. In 2016 she received international recognition for her contribution to the scientific knowledge and understanding of learning disabilities through her selection as a Fellow of the International Academy of Research in Learning Disabilities.

Sue was also the Academic Coordinator for International Students in Education at the university, and went above and beyond to provide not only academic guidance and support, but also pastoral care.

She was the Director of the Hamilton Children’s Reading Centre, and fundraised for 18 years to fund the Centre, so that it could provide free specialist assessment and tuition for children with reading difficulties.

Sue sadly passed away in 2023. Right up until the last few weeks of her life she was still marking student papers and reviewing the proofs of her latest book.

Sue was a fantastic educator and her legacy lives on in all the people she inspired.

-          Annette van Lamoen

Find out more about the New Zealand Literacy and Numeracy Educator awards