CLASP Excellence in Language Education Award

The CLASP Excellence in Language Education Award recognizes excellence in Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs) spoken in Latin America and the Caribbean, including language instruction, pedagogical success, curriculum development, and efforts to promote, preserve, and revitalize LCTLs in the U.S. and abroad.  The focus of the award alternates between Portuguese language and Indigenous and Creole languages. 

The call for the fifth annual Excellence in Language Education Award will be circulated in early 2027. The prize will specifically recognize outstanding achievements in Portuguese-language instruction. The committee welcomes nominations of professors at all ranks and levels.

2026 Award Recipient: Nicolas André

Teaching Professor of Haitian Creole and French & Director of the Haitian Studies Program
Florida International University

2026 Honorable Mention Recipient: Odi Gonzales Jimenez

Clinical Professor of Latin American Studies and the Quechua Language Program
New York University

2025 Award Recipient: Cecília Paiva Ximenes Rodrigues

Associate Professor of Portuguese and Curriculum Coordinator of the Portuguese Flagship Program
University of Georgia

2025 Honorable Mention Recipients

Eugênia Fernandes

Assistant Professor of Portuguese and Brazilian/Lusophone Studies
Florida International University

Lyris Wiedemann

Senior Lecturer in the Language Center
Stanford University

2024 Award Recipient: Manuela Petronila Tahay Tzaj

K’iche’ Language Instructor, University of Texas at Austin
Program Coordinator, Mayan Language Institute, Tulane University and Vanderbilt University

2024 Honorable Mention Recipient: Susana L. M. Antunes

Portuguese Program Coordinator and Associate Professor of Portuguese
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

2023 Award Recipient: Armando Muyolema

Kichwa language instruction
University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Utah, Brigham Young University, University of New Mexico and Arizona State University

2023 Honorable Mention Recipient: Manuela Petronila Tahay Tzaj

Maya K’iche’ language instruction
Tulane University, Vanderbilt University, Duke University and University of Virginia