Alumna Gil-Garcia receives two Fulbright grants
VMU News, June 19, 2003
CHICAGO -- Dr. Ana Gil-Garcia, an associate professor at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago who received her doctoral degree from Western Michigan University, was recently notified that she will receive two Fulbright grants through 2008.
Gil-Garcia has been named to the Fulbright Senior Specialist Roster, as well as receiving a Fulbright U.S. Scholar grant. The senior specialist roster is a list of approved candidates available for short-term positions of typically two to six weeks. Gil-Garcia's name will remain on the list until 2008. She will use the Fulbright U.S. Scholar grant to return to her native Venezuela for 10 months beginning January 2004, where she will conduct research and teach at Universidad Simon Bolivar in Caracas.
"Western Michigan University provided me with one of the most solid and analytical educations I have ever received in my long academic years," says Gil-Garcia. "The educational environment I lived at Sangren Hall, the strong knowledge base offered by a well-recognized body of faculty experts, and the critical skills I expanded through the dynamic of interaction with others are some of the elements that have contributed to my successes in life."
Gil-Garcia originally came to the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship in 1987, while she was still a Venezuelan citizen. She earned a doctoral degree in educational leadership from WMU in 1991, receiving a WMU Research Award for her dissertation. Gil-Garcia, whose name at that time was Ana Gil Serafin, was a WMU Visiting Scholar and member of the educational leadership faculty in 1992-93.
For the past seven years, Gil-Garcia has been at Northeastern Illinois University, where she teaches graduate courses in the areas of educational leadership, research in education, school supervision, cultural pluralism, and curriculum development. She has been involved in education for 29 years. Most of Gil-Garcia's academic and administrative careers have been in Caracas.
In addition to a doctorate from WMU, Gil-Garcia holds a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from University of Tennessee, a specialist degree in middle school curriculum conferred by the Organization of American States, and a bachelor's degree from the Pedagogical University of Venezuela. She has additional training in the areas of reading and teaching strategies, multicultural education, brain-based learning, and teaching in multi-language and culturally diverse classroom settings.
Gil-Garcia has published two books and many articles in international and national journals and has delivered numerous papers nationally and internationally, including invited presentations in Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, France, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Peru, Hungary, Italy and Venezuela. She has been cited in several dissertations and books. The recipient of numerous merit awards, she considers her greatest honor to have been recognized as a Teacher of the Year in Venezuela for her 20 years of consecutive teaching services at all levels.
Media contact: Thom Myers, 269 387-8400, thom.myers@wmich.edu
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