Gladys Lipton Receives Commandeur Award
At a special ceremony in Philadelphia on July 5, 2010, Dr. Gladys Lipton was presented
with the Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques by the French Ambassador, His
Excellence Pierre Vimont.In her acceptance speech, Dr. Lipton thanked the French Ambassador for this prestigious award, and said, in part: "I am thrilled to accept this award with great emotion and humility, in my own name, but also in the name of teachers of French and AATF members." Starting her career as a high school teacher of French, in the NYC schools, she became dedicated, early in her career, to foreign language in elementary school. Through her many articles, books and personal presentations, she has worked to assemble a body of FLES* research that can help expand programs throughout the country. Her advocacy work with superintendents, principals, school districts, parents, counselors and teachers has helped the public to understand the many benefits to children of starting early. She taught French on all school levels and at the university level, as well, where she also conducted national teacher development institutes at UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County). Prior to UMBC, she headed the FL programs in NYC schools before going on to coordinate the FL and ESOL programs in Anne Arundel County. Dr. Lipton served as national president of the AATF (1998-2000), and chaired the AATF FLES* Commission and many other FL leadership positions. She was a frequent presenter at AATF, AATSP, NECTFL, SCOLT, ACTFL, NADSFL, MFLA, NYSAFLT and many others. She currently advises teachers and decision-makers through her "Ask Gladys" feature on the website www.gladys-c-lipton.org. Among her many other awards and honors, Dr. Lipton treasures ACTFL's Florence Steiner Award for Leadership, AATF's Honorary Membership, the NNELL Special Recognition Award, the Maryland and New York State Leadership awards, French Honors Award from NYU, and the Distinguished Alumnae of Brooklyn College, etc. |