Prior to her move to Georgia, she served on the faculties of Northern Illinois University and Virginia Tech.
Merriam served as author, co-author, or editor of 25 books and was co-editor of the Adult Education Quarterly for five years.
[5] Visiting Scholar, Department of Lifelong Education, Soongsil University, Seoul, South Korea (March to June, 2006) Elected to the Board of Directors, Capella University, Minneapolis, Minn(3-year term of service) 2004 Inducted into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame.
2002 Recipient of the Houle World Award for Outstanding Literature in Adult Education for the book, Learning in Adulthood, at AAACE.
2000 Fulbright Lectureship and Research Award to University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia (June to December, 1998)1998 Recipient of the Houle World Award for Outstanding Literature in Adult Education for the book The Profession and Practice of Adult Education: An Introduction, at AAACE.1997 Selected as a Senior Teaching Fellow, Office of Instructional Development, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.1997 Selected as one of two delegates from the commission of Professors of Adult Education (CPAE) to participate in the Fifth International UNESCO Conference on Adult Education, Hamburg, Germany.1997 Summer Outreach Award to support collaboration with Universiti Pertanian Malaysia.