Who is George David Gopen?
George David Gopen, JD, PhD is Professor Emeritus of the Practice of Rhetoric at Duke University. He is the creator of the Reader Expectation Approach (REA), an empirically-grounded framework for writing in English from the reader’s perspective, taught to tens of thousands of professionals at over 200 leading organizations worldwide.
Professional Writing Consultant
Since 1990, George has been working independently as a writing consultant, offering workshops and seminars in applying his Reader Expectation Approach. He has trained professionals at of over 200 organizations around the world.
Listen: “Meet George Gopen, Exploring The Complexities And Eloquence Of The English Language.” NPR The State of Things→
“[Dr. Gopen’s] articles on the rhetorics of science and law are seminal in both disciplines.”
— Kristin Woolever Chancellor, Penn State Brandywine
Reshaping Scientific Writing
In 1990, George published The Science of Scientific Writing in American Scientist which formed the basis of his Reader Expectation Approach. Virginia Kraus, the Mary Bernheim Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Duke University, has credited the piece with reshaping scientific writing. The highly acclaimed article has been independently reprinted and taught at universities worldwide for 35 years. The Reader Expectation Approach has been widely applied and evaluated in peer-reviewed literature with over 2000 citations.
Publications
In February of 2026, George signed a three-book contract with Anthem Press in London which will include 17 translations of his updated and expanded The New Science of Scientific Writing.
Read about all three new books→
In total, George has published five books, 80 articles, and a 15-hour video series. Even before he became a leading writing consultant, George was a scholar of literature and language. His 1987 prose translation of Robert Henryson’s 15th-century Moral Fables — published by the University of Notre Dame Press — caught the attention of Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, who later credited it as essential to his own landmark translation of the same work.
Music
Music has been a constant throughout George’s life. He has sung with the Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Choral Society of Durham, played recorder and bass viola da gamba with the Wakefield Consort, and directed his own madrigal group. As a pianist, he has accompanied artists in lieder recitals at Duke University, Emory University, the Israeli Embassy, the North Carolina Museum of Art, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. He composed an original piece to accompany T.S. Eliot’s “Four Quartets” and performed it in Germany. George is the founder and Director of the Chamber Arts Society of Durham, which brings the world’s finest chamber musicians to North Carolina.
Academic Excellence
A career built on academic excellence, George simultaneously earned both his law degree and a PhD in English from Harvard. He holds the professional title Professor Emeritus of the Practice of Rhetoric at Duke University. He was the founder and director of the Duke University Writing Program, taught in Duke’s English Department for 30 years, and taught for sixteen at Duke’s School of Law. Since 1985, faculty attendance at George’s seminars has exceeded 20,000 at Duke University.
Read Dr. Gopen’s full Duke academic profile→
“My very dear brother George is one of the most masterful teachers, erudite scholars and decent human beings I have ever encountered in the Academy!”
— Dr. Cornel West Author of Race Matters and Democracy Matters
Listen: “Non-Rules for Writing: An Interview with George Gopen” Being Human — The University of Pittsburgh→
Lifetime Achievement
In 2011, the Legal Writing Institute presented George with their lifetime achievement award, The Golden Pen, for his outstanding lifelong efforts to improve the quality of legal writing.
For occasional news and updates, join the newsletter email list→