Alumni News

1950s

William Wayne (BA '43 Spanish, PhD '52 Geology): In the past 70 years since his degree was awarded from IU, Dr. Wayne has built an incredible career in the Salta region of Argentina. An expert in the geological geomorphic sciences, Dr. Wayne has worked with the NSF, the National Geographic Society, the University of Lincoln (Nebraska) and with the Universidad Nacional de Salta. His career was recently the focus of a major newspaper article in Argentina, highlighting his accomplishments and contributions to the field of geological sciences.

1960s

Linda Jefferson Segall (BA '67): The weekend of February 15, 2013, 14 of the 20 "kids" who studied in Lima, Peru, in the 1965 IU Junior Year Abroad Program celebrated their 48th anniversary in Tampa, FL. The group's director, George Zucker, and his daughter Lisa Bradley, organized the weekend, which included get-togethers at his house and a dinner of traditional Peruvian cuisine. The group's first reunion was in 1990, when members celebrated their 25th anniversary. The "kids" have been meeting every five years, until this anniversary, their 48th. They plan to meet in Chicago for their 50th reunion in September 2015. The reunions were a natural extension of a project started by Sharon Goodnight Sylvester, who, for several years, solicited news from each group member and compiled it into an annual newsletter. Sharon, who lives in Chicago, will coordinate the 50th anniversary reunion.

Carlos B. Vega (MA '67): Just published 8 new books, among them his first novel in Spanish, CAMINOS: La odisea de una familia española en América después de la Guerra Civil Española, Conquistadoras: Mujeres heroóicas de la conquista de América, and Our Hispanic Roots: What History Failed To Tell Us. All three books were finalists for the prestigious International Latino Book Awards, held at BEA and the Cervantes Institute in New York May. Vega was recently named among the world's leading Hispanists by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Spain.

1970s

Malcolm Alan Compitello (PhD '79) is completing his 19th year as Head of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Arizona. In 2012, former students and colleagues published Capital Inscriptions: Essays on Hispanic Literature, Film and Urban Space, Ed. Benjamin Fraser (Juan de la Cuesta) to honor his contributions to the field of Hispanic Studies. In 2013 they organized a series of panels at the Kentucky Foreign Language Conference to do the same. Professor Compitello is also the recipient of the 2011 Excellence in Global Education Award from the University of Arizona and is a member of the Program Committee for the MLA Annual Convention.

1980s

Alfred J. Carter (MAT '82): Since graduating from IU in 1990, Carter has been supervising and now coordinating Spanish language instruction for the diplomatic corps at the Foreign Service Institute, US Department of State. For beginners in Spanish, this is a six-month, full-time course of instruction. During this time Carter also co-authored the textbook used and has served as the Spanish linguistics and pedagogy expert for seven distance learning courses. In 2012 Carter became Division Director for Romance Languages, one of five language divisions in the School.

1990s

Julie Wollinksy (BA '91) who spent her junior year with the IU Overseas study program in Madrid, is leading Business Development initiatives for the largest Spanish language internet site, SpanishDict. The site gets over 9 million unique monthly visitors and has a popular mobile app and free Spanish word of the day. Based in Arlington, Virginia, the company recently launched fluencia.com, which already has more than 130,000 users in 180 countries.

2000s

Julianna Horton (BA '00): "The education I received at IU really has had an impact. I am currently the music minister at a Catholic Church in La Grange, Kentucky, outside of Louisville, and for a time I served as Interim Hispanic Minister, working with the mostly Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants in the area. The new person that we recently hired for that position actually does not speak English very well, so part of my job now is to be her interpreter! I recently composed a musical composition based on the "Nada te turbe" poem by St. Teresa of Avila. I have always loved that poem, which I was first introduced to at IU, and I had the great pleasure of visiting Avila when I went back to Spain in 2007."

Kelly Starewicz Baker (BA '05): "I am so fortunate to have received my BA in Spanish from IU in 2005. My experiences studying abroad in Madrid, Spain for the 2004-2005 school year, as well as the quality education I received, have helped me obtain professional positions and advancements. As the Director of Admissions and the International Student Advisor at Ivy Tech Community College in Columbus, IN, I am able to help students in our community with language barriers or that are from other cultures who want to enroll in college. My experiences have given me an understanding and appreciation of other cultures that many do not have. Thank you for this, IU Department of Spanish and Portuguese! And Prof. Wagschal was tough, but I learned a lot!"

Alejandro Puga (PhD '08) recently published a monograph, La ciudad novelada a fines del siglo XX: Estructura, retórica y figuración (México: Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, 2012), based on the doctoral dissertation he wrote at IU. He is currently Associate Professor of Spanish at DePauw University.

2010s

Sarah Renkert (BA '10) writes: "After graduating from Indiana University, I had the remarkable opportunity to become involved with the Light and Leadership Initiative, a small NGO based in Huaycan, a shantytown on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. Huaycan was established in 1984 as Andean residents fled to Lima in search of employment and to escape the escalating violence between the Shining Path and the Peruvian military. Today, Huaycan is home to more than 200,000 residents and is benefiting from a number of development projects throughout the community. Nonetheless, educational opportunities are notably limited. While public schools are available, students attend for only half a day, as the schools must hold morning and afternoon sessions to accommodate all local youth. Furthermore, as the informal sector continues to dominate the local economy, there are few chances for adult women to obtain the skills or education necessary for significant social and financial mobilization. Light and Leadership strives to offer a myriad of gratuitous educational opportunities to local community members. Among others, they hold English, reading, math, and art classes for children and adults. Additionally, they have a women's empowerment program, which includes a variety of educational workshops, computer classes, garden projects, and an artisan program. More information about the organization can be found on their website at lightandleadership.org. Light and Leadership is always looking for volunteers and offers a variety of long-term internships."

Rachel Geissler (BA '13) was awarded a prestigious Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Mexico for 2013-2014. Rachel was one of a handful of awardees out of more than 50 applicants for this highly competitive program.