ADFL Award

Ray Clifford Receives 2009 ADFL Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession

Ray Clifford, associate dean of the Brigham Young University (BYU) College of Humanities and director of BYU’s Center for Language Studies, was named the recipient of the 2009 ADFL Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession. The award was presented during a special session in Clifford’s honor at the 2009 MLA Annual Convention in Philadelphia. Clifford is internationally recognized for his work as an advocate for foreign language education in the United States and for his contribution to defining curricular and methodological issues in the field of language teaching. Before assuming his current position at BYU’s Center for Language Studies, Clifford was for more than twenty years at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), Monterey, where, as dean, provost, and chancellor of the largest language education institution in the world, he was known for his support of the professionalization of the faculty. Under his leadership, the DLIFLC introduced standardized language proficiency assessments and used data-driven reviews to improve its instructional programs. Clifford’s efforts led to college accreditation for the DLIFLC.

Clifford is recognized by secondary and postsecondary language educators for his activities on behalf of standardized proficiency assessment and for his tireless work in support of the coherence and dignity of the language teaching community. He was twice elected president of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and is the 2008–09 president of the National Federation of Modern Language Teaching Associations. He served on the board of directors of the Joint National Committee for Languages in 1993–95 and 2006–08. He was awarded a Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, by Middlebury College in 2003 and has received awards from the National Council on Less Commonly Taught Languages, the American Association of Teachers of German, and ACTFL. In the words of a letter nominating Clifford for the ADFL award, summarizing his role through decades of leadership in the field, “Anyone who has worked with Ray Clifford at the many meetings of the language community knows that he is part of the glue that holds us together.”

ADFL welcomes nominations for this award. Criteria specify that the award is given for outstanding service to the profession in the larger community, not for recognition of scholarly accomplishments. Anyone wishing to nominate a candidate should write a letter of no more than two typed pages, gather three supporting letters, and forward these materials together with the nominee’s vita to Nelly Furman, Director, ADFL, 26 Broadway, 3rd floor, New York, NY 10004-1789 (adfl@mla.org).