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Foreign Languages Professor named Professor of the Year
December 1, 2004
CARROLLTON, GA - For the second year in a row, a faculty member in the University of West Georgia Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures has been named Professor of the Year by the Georgia chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP).
Raul
Fernández, part-time instructor of Spanish, was honored with the
2004 award this fall, and Dr. Cecilia Lee, professor of Spanish, received
the recognition in 2003.
The AATSP is a professional non-profit organization with nearly 86 years of experience promoting Spanish and Portuguese languages, literature and cultures. Its international membership includes educators, administrators, supervisors, government employees, community leaders and others who support the study of Spanish and Portuguese.
Dr. Denise Overfield, interim chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, said, “We’re proud that Fernández’ talents, and by extension our program, have been recognized by the AATSP-GA. While we are aware of the level of quality in our program, it’s always gratifying to have that recognized by an outside group, particularly at the statewide level. This is the second year in a row that a member of our faculty has been recognized in this way, so we are especially pleased.”
A Spanish and French instructor since 1961, Fernández was teaching at the Georgian School before he joined UWG in fall 2002. Before that, he had served as a department chair at Shiloh High School and Central Gwinnett High School in Gwinnett County and Forest Park High School in Clayton County. He also taught at Clayton State College and the Darlington School.
At the state level, Fernández has served as chair of the Remedial Task Force in Spanish for the State Department of Education, and he is a creator and organizer of the Total Immersion Camps in Spanish and French, through which he has taught Spanish since 1982. He also helped to create the Gwinnett County Foreign Language Festival.
Through the years, Fernández has received numerous accolades, the most recent of which include the 2001 Leadership on Foreign Language Education Award from the Foreign Language Association of Georgia (FLAG), inclusion in Who’s Who Among American Teachers in 1998, the 1998 STAR Teacher of the Year Award from Shiloh High School, the 1994 AATSP National Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award, and the 1993 AATSP Georgia Teacher of the Year Award.
In addition to AATSP and FLAG, his professional affiliations include the Georgia Educators Association, the National Educators Association, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, the Southern Conference on Language Teaching and the Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society on Education.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree at the Instituto Pinar del Rio in Cuba and a Bachelor of Arts at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. He earned a Master of Arts degree at Emory University in 1972 and has completed education and advanced studies at UWG, Shorter College, the University of Georgia and Georgia State University.
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