This literature review on the preparation of professional adult educators attempts to cover the leading areas of discussion and research as well as some of the more interesting conclusions reported. Six major preoccupations of research are outlined, followed by two chapters on adult education as a discipline and a profession, patterns of adult educational leadership, levels and categories of adult educators, and their learning needs. Chapter 4 covers the growth of graduate education in adult education, numbers of doctorates granted during the period 1935-69, theoretical models for the doctorate, learning objectives, program content, procedures and criteria for evaluating graduate study, and provisions for field work and inservice training. Conclusions touch on such aspects as the status (firmly established) of adult education as an academic field, the nature of professional education (essentially graduate and postvocational), and the need for research on roles and functions, evaluation of training program outcomes, and the development of suitable measurement instruments. The document includes a 118-item bibliography, instructions for ordering from ERIC, and a list of ERIC/AE publications. (LY)