In Memoriam

August 30, 2022

The Department of World Languages and Literatures remembers with great sadness the passing of José Martínez (August 21, 2021). José was a Texas State graduate and a very familiar face at our Department where he completed his BA and MA in Spanish (2008-2015). During this time, José worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, was a Galván Scholarship recipient, served as President, Vice-President, and Treasurer at Sigma Delta Pi and fostered long-lasting friendships with many of the faculty members.

October 23, 2019

Dr. Robert Fischer, professor of French, retired in 2016 after 43 years of teaching, scholarship, and service at Texas State. He was subsequently recognized as a Distinguished Professor Emeritus. As chair of the Department of Modern Languages for more than 30 years, he played a critical role in building a department known for teaching excellence and for high standards in scholarship. He maintained a strong research record, publishing books and articles and delivering papers, speeches, and lectures at universities and conferences in the US and around the world. He also served as one of 12 scholars nationally who advised the President of the US on matters related to language teaching and learning. 

Fischer's specialization was computer-assisted language learning. In the 1990s he secured over $1M in grant funding from the Fund for the Improvement of Secondary Education (FIPSE), the Mellon Foundation, and other agencies. These grants supported cutting-edge work in computer-assisted language instruction. Fischer remained professionally active over the course of his career, serving both as president of the Computer-Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO) and as the long-time editor of the organization’s publication program. In 2014, CALICO published a Festschrift in his honor.