I am honored beyond words to be the next recipient of The James W. Dodge Foreign Language Advocate Award from NECTFL, and to be the first French national to receive this prestigious prize. Past recipients include the Hon. Paul Simon, President Jimmy Carter, the Hon. J. William Fulbright, Sesame Street, blues musician Taj Mahal, and journalist Diane Rehm. The addition of my name to this list gives me immeasurable pride. The ceremony will be on February 14, 2020 during the NECTL conference in New York.

About the Award

The Foreign Language Advocate Award is presented to honor an individual outside the profession for recognition of work on behalf of languages. Since 1990, this award has been presented in memory of James W. Dodge, who served as Secretary-Treasurer of the Northeast Conference for nearly twenty years. More information here.

Past Winners

• 2019: Eduardo Vilaro, CEO and Artistic Director, Ballet Hispánico
• 2018: The Trout Gallery, Dickinson College
• 2017: The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
• 2015: Diane Rehm, The Diane Rehm Show, WAMU
• 2014: Clay Pell, 2013 Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of International and Foreign Language Education, USDOE
• 2013: Hon. Jack Markell, Governor of Delaware
• 2012: J. David Edwards, JNCL/NCLIS
• 2010: J.W. “Bill” Marriott, Marriott International
• 2009: Luma Mufleh, Fugees Family
• 2007: Hon. Paul S. Sarbanes, Senator from Maryland
• 2006: Taj Mahal and Carole Fredericks, (posthumous award)
• 2005: Hon. Rush Holt, Congressional Representative from New Jersey
• 2004: Brenda Lilienthal Welburn, Executive Director, National Association of State Boards of Education
• 2003: Ann M. Copland, Senior Executive and Legislative Assistant, Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS)
• 2002: Barbara Turlington, American Council on Education
• 2001: L. Jay Oliva, President, New York University
• 2000: Hon. Richard Riley, former Governor of South Carolina, Secretary of Education, U. S. Dept. of Ed.
• 1999: Sesame Street, Children’s Television Workshop
• 1998: Ken O’Keefe, Allegheny College
• 1997: Robert Orrill, The College Board
• 1996: Hon. David L. Boren, former Senator from Oklahoma; President, University of Oklahoma
• 1995: Hon. Madeleine May Kunin,former Governor of Vermont, Deputy Secretary of Education
• 1994: James Crawford, author and editor
• 1993: James Herbert, National Endowment for the Humanities
• 1992: Hon. Lois G. Pines, State Senator for Middlesex and Norfolk District, Massachusetts
• 1991: Scott McVay, Executive Director, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
• 1990: Leonard A. Lauder, President and CEO, Estée Lauder, Inc.
• 1989: The Southern Governors Conference
• 1988: Hon. Claiborne Pell, Senator from Rhode Island
• 1987: Hon. J. William Fulbright, former Senator from Arkansas
• 1986: Hon. Christopher J. Dodd, Senator from Connecticut
• 1985: Sylvia Porter, nationally syndicated columnist
• 1983: Hon. Leon E. Panetta, Congressional Representative from California
• 1980: Fred M. Hechinger, The New York Times Foundation
• 1979: President Jimmy Carter
• 1978: Hon. Paul Simon, Congressional Representative from Illinois

About NECTFL

The Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (NECTFL) serves educators in all languages (including classical, less commonly taught, and English as a New Language), at all levels from kindergarten through university, in both public and private settings. In existence since the late 1940s, NECTFL is the largest of five regional associations of its kind in the United States, representing educators from Maine to Virginia but exercising leadership nation-wide.

NECTFL’s upcoming conference is on February 13-15, 2020 in New York. This year’s theme is Languages for All: Envisioning Language Learning Opportunities for Every Learner. I encourage everyone to attend (You can register here). I want to thank the board of NECTFL for choosing me as the 2020 recipient of their organization’s James W. Dodge Foreign Language Advocate Award. Special thanks to Nathan Lutz, Elizabeth Slocum, Leslie Kudlack, John Carlino, and Liz Shovers.