New York University President Emeritus and former Member of Congress, Dr. John Brademas, was today honored with the Edwin Cudecki Award for Support for Foreign Language Education by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) at its Annual Convention and World Languages Expo in Orlando, Florida.
The award was established to recognize significant contributions to the language community in promoting language education.
Bret Lovejoy, Executive Director of ACTFL said of Dr. Brademas , “Throughout your prominent career, you have championed the causes associated with building the language capacity of the U.S. In particular, your co-chairmanship of the Subcommittee on International Education and Foreign Language Studies of the Committee on Economic Development and the resulting report “Education for Global Leadership,” affirmed your strong commitment to ensuring that language education be an integral part of the curriculum of all children in the U.S.
“On behalf of the 11,000 language educators who are members of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, I want to thank you for your contributions to the foreign language profession and for your support for our mission to increase language education in the U.S.”
Edwin Cudecki was Director of Foreign Languages for the Chicago public schools and a champion of foreign language education.
John Brademas was for 22 years (1959-1981) a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (Democrat-Indiana) where he was author of legislation to support schools, colleges and universities; libraries and museums; the arts and the humanities.
He was author of the International Education Act of 1966, which authorizes federal grants to colleges and universities for the study of other countries.
He served as President of New York University from 1981 until 1992, when he became President Emeritus, his present position.
During his presidency of NYU, he established a number of programs there for the study of other countries. Author of a study of the anarchist movement in Spain from the mid-1920s to the first year of the Spanish Civil War, he established at New York University the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center for the study of modern Spain. Dr. Brademas will, on December 1, receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of Barcelona.
In responding to the award, Dr. Brademas described international programs at New York University, including teaching of languages other than English.