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Dr. Ellen de Kanter Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
12/2/2009
 Dr. Ellen de Kanter, professor emerita and former director of the University of St. Thomas Bilingual/Dual Language Program, received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 37th Annual Texas Association of Bilingual Education Conference. The event was held Oct. 16 at the Westin Galleria Hotel.
De Kanter served as instructor and director of bilingual education at UST for 26 years before retiring in May 2005. Under her direction, the Bilingual Education Program was awarded approximately $7.5 million in 14 Title VII and Title III U.S . Department of Education grants to educate both graduate and undergraduate students in the fields of bilingual education and English as a Second Language.
She served as the chair of the UST Spanish Department from 1982 to 1991, and was an ardent supporter of the University’s study abroad program in Merida, Mexico. Since her retirement, de Kanter has continued her legacy of service to the University and to the teaching profession by serving as a proposal reader, consultant for the Houston Independent School District, Teacher of the Year judge, and holding membership on numerous committees and St. Thomas advisory boards. She served as Houston Area Association for Bilingual Education president and two terms as chair of the National Association of Bilingual Education Conference.
“All of us in bilingual education know that Ellen de Kanter is here to serve whenever and wherever she is needed,” said Dr. Ginny Torres-Rimbau, current director of the Bilingual Education Program. “Her expertise professionalism and attention to detail are well-known. In addition, the devotion of her former students as they remain close to her after all these years, is truly a testament of her value and lasting impact, not only as a professor, but as a fine human being.”
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in education from the Universidad de las Americas, Mexico, D.F., a Master of Education, a Master of Arts in Spanish and a doctorate in education from the University of Houston.
The Ellen and Scipio de Kanter Dual-Language Scholarship was created by her children to honor their mother and father. It is open to Dual Language Program students in high academic standing in UST’s School of Education.
“I am very humbled to receive this meaningful honor from my peers,” de Kanter said. “The dedicated bilingual education faculty at UST will continue to provide quality training for future teachers of students from linguistically and culturally different backgrounds.”
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