TIRF Trustee Elected to AAAL Office
TIRF Trustee Kathi Bailey has been elected to the office of Second Vice President (VP) of AAAL – the American Association for Applied Linguistics. AAAL is an affiliate of AILA –the Association Internationale de LinguistiqueAppliquée.
“I am very excited to take on this new responsibility,” said Kathi. “I expect to learn a great deal and develop a new network of colleagues.” The role of the Second VP lasts for one year, followed by a year as First VP, then a year as President, and finally a year as Past President.
According to the AAAL website, “the mission of AAAL is to facilitate the advancement and dissemination of knowledge and understanding regarding these language-related issues in order to improve the lives of individuals and conditions in society.” In this regard, TIRF and AAAL have much in common.
Congratulations, Kathi!
Dr. James E. Alatis Honored as TIRF Trustee Emeritus
At the September 2013 Board of Trustees meeting, Dr. James E. Alatis (known to us as Jim) was honored as a Trustee Emeritus. At that event, Trustees Kathi Bailey, Richard Boyum, MaryAnn Christison, and Dick Tucker shared their thoughts with Jim about his influence on the Foundation and the field. Jim’s wife, Penny, and son, Anthony, also shared in the festivities.
There are several videos that were taken at the event. You can view them by clicking here. We hope you will join us in congratulating Jim as we celebrate this important milestone. Many congratulations, Jim!
TIRF Trustee Receives TESOL’s James Alatis Award
TIRF Trustee MaryAnn Christison, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Utah, was recently honored with the James Alatis award “in recognition of outstanding and extended service to TESOL.” In making the award, TESOL President Dr. Christine Coombe sited MaryAnn’s seven-year term of service on the TESOL Board of Directors, including being President from 1997-1998, as well as her many major responsibilities for chairing the organization’s Conventions over the years. MaryAnn was also recognized for her numerous publications and intellectual contributions to the field. Dr. Coombe also noted MaryAnn’s current role as the Chair of TIRF’s Research Advisory Committee.
Upon receiving the award, MaryAnn had this to say: “I have known Jim and Penny Alatis for years and am honored to have them as dear friends. It is wonderful for TESOL to recognize service to name the award after Jim Alatis as his commitment to TESOL is legendary.”
Bailey Receives Heinle Outstanding Achievement Award
At the 2011 TESOL Convention in New Orleans, TIRF President, Kathi Bailey, was honored with the Heinle Cengage Outstanding Achievement Award. This award is given annually to Heinle Cengage authors who have made a distinctive contribution to English language education – through authoring, teaching, research, and otherwise helping the field, in terms of reach, scope, and impact.
According to Heinle President, Dennis Hogan, previous recipients of this honor were Earl Stevick, Diane Larsen-Freeman, Donald Freeman, Rebecca Oxford, David Nunan, Neil Anderson, Anna Uhl Chamot, Marianne Celce-Murcia, Paul Nation, Lydia Stack, Mary Lou McCloskey, Barbara Foley, and Sandra Elbaum.
Commenting on receiving the award, Bailey said, “I was totally surprised by this wonderful award, and I am deeply honored to be included in this list of notable people in our field. I also appreciate David Nunan keeping the ‘roast’ relatively mild! There were several more outrageous things he could have said!”
Donna Christian Receives Prestigious Award
In January 2011, Donna Christian, TIRF trustee and senior fellow at the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Washington, D.C., received the Victoria A. Fromkin Lifetime Service Award from the Linguistic Society of America (LSA). Originally presented in 2001 as the Victoria A. Fromkin Prize for Distinguished Service, this award was established “to recognize individuals who have performed extraordinary service to the Society and the discipline throughout their career.”
Christian has focused her career on the role of language in education, and has special interests in second language learning, dialect diversity, and policy. Commenting on receiving the award, Christian said, “I am deeply honored and grateful to receive this recognition from the Linguistic Society of America, especially in an award dedicated to Vicki Fromkin, whose leadership and service made such a difference to the field of linguistics and to the LSA.”
LSA Director of Membership and Meetings, David Robinson, said that Christian was awarded the Victoria A Fromkin Prize for her outstanding service to the LSA since joining in 1971. Over the years, Christian has served the LSA in a variety of ways, and helped navigate CAL through difficult financial times. Robinson commented that the Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics calls Christian “one of the ‘foremost authorities in the United States on language education and language in education.’” Christian’s work between CAL and the LSA helped to ensure a mutually beneficial and prosperous relationship between the two organizations for many years. Thus, as Robinson stated, “it is fitting that LSA recognize her long-standing service and contributions both to the linguistics profession and to the LSA as an organization.”
Tucker Named Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s Interim Dean
Dr. G. Richard Tucker, a member of the TIRF Board of Trustees, has been named interim dean for the Qatar campus of Carnegie Mellon University, effective August 1.
Currently, Professor Tucker serves as associate vice provost for education for the Carnegie Mellon Qatar campus. In this position, he works with various university department heads to make sure the academic and student life experiences at the Qatar campus remain an extension of the high quality programs in Pittsburgh.
After joining the Carnegie Mellon faculty in 1992, Dick became head of the Modern Languages Department in 1995 and held that post for 12 years. In 2003, he was named the Paul Mellon Professor of Applied Linguistics and in 2006 he was named a University Professor, the highest distinction a faculty member can achieve at Carnegie Mellon. Dick also received the university’s Doherty Award for Sustained Contributions to Excellence in Education in 2007, as well as the James Alatis Award for Service to TESOL in 1998.
Former TIRF Trustee Honored
Former TIRF Trustee Dr. Rick Jenks was recently honored in a ceremony at Florida State University, where the Center for Intensive English Studies was renamed in his honor. Follow the links to see a slide show of the ceremony and a write-up of the event.
TIRF Fellowship Recipient Receives Two Awards
Dr. Muhammad Abdel Latif, one of the three 2008 TIRF Sheikh Nahayan Fellowship recipients, has received two prestigious awards. He received the 2009 Canadian Modern Language Review Best Graduate Student Paper: “Toward a New Process-Based Indicator for Measuring Writing Fluency: Evidence from L2 Writers’ Think-Aloud Protocols.” He was also selected by ACTFL (the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages) as the winner of the 2009 ACTFL-MLJ Emma Marie Birkmaier Award for Doctoral Dissertation Research in Foreign Language Education.
