NEWS
In Memory of Louis Wagner
From Alex Dunkel,
I was shocked and saddened to learn of Lou Wagner’s passing.
Lou Wagner was a talented Slavic academician and pedagogue, but I first grew to know him as the Treasurer of NASILP, virtually from its first day as an incorporated professional organization—a pioneering one—of the uncommonly taught languages.
His was a dedication that spanned several decades, from the pre-digital to the digital age, from NASILP’s founding Executive Director, Professor John B. Means, to its present Executive Director, Professor Koji Arizumi. As a colleague of many years, and as an Executive Director of seventeen years, I valued Lou’s sage advice that kept NASILP on a stable financial path.
To say that “Lou will be sorely missed” is an enormous understatement!
On a personal note, Lou’s voice was the one I remembered from my first NASILP meeting in 1987; my last memory is that of the dinner that Lou and his wife Mary, hosted for my wife Mary and myself in 2014 upon my retirement from NASILP.
His invaluable contribution to NASILP is indelibly etched in my memory.
Alex Dunkel
Associate Professor,
Russian and Slavic Studies
Former Director
Critical Languages Program
(1987-2014)
The University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona 85719