Leandra Teresa Valdivieso

Valdivieso, Leandra Teresa
Departed our material existence on May 2nd, 2011. A resident of Scottsdale, Arizona, Dr. Leandra Teresa Valdivieso was a beloved wife, cherished mother, grandmother and great grandmother, treasured sister, and faithful friend. Teresa was an esteemed professor, dedicated scholar, tenacious researcher, and prolific author. Her life was sustained by three pillars; faith in God above all else, service to others before herself, and certitude in the power of hard work, total commitment, and an indomitable will. She is survived by her husband Jorge, son Jesse (wife Elaine), granddaughters Michelle (husband Carlos) and Nicole, great grandchildren Carlos and Evalyn, sister María Lucía, and godson David Raúl Foster. Teresa was born in Valencia, Spain and came to Arizona in 1963 to join her husband. In 1971, she joined the faculty of Arizona State University where she taught undergraduate, graduate and post doctoral courses in the Spanish program until December, 2010. In her many years at ASU, she was Director of Graduate Studies, Coordinator of the Spanish Section, Director of the Center for Latin American Studies, Chair of the Arizona State University Education Abroad Committee, Chair of the Undergraduate Committee, member of the Dean's Faculty Advisory Council, and researcher in the Language Articulation Task Force. She also was Visiting Professor at Middlebury College and the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, and Lecturer at Universidade Lusiada in Lisbon and the Universitat de Barcelona. She is the author of España: Bibliografía de un teatro silenciado and Negocios y comunicaciones, co-author of Studia Hispanica Medievalia and Voces y textos literarios del Ecuador. She co-edited La mujer hispana en el mundo, Presencia de la mujer hispana , and Madrid en la literatura y las artes. She was a founding-member and past president of the Asociación de Literatura Femenina Hispánica, vice-president of the Asociación Hispánica de Humanidades, senior bibliographer of the Modern Language Association, and president of Spanish Professionals in America (ALDEEU). In 1980 she received the Dean's Award for excellence in teaching, in 2002 she received the Outstanding Faculty Committee to Teaching and Learning Award, and in 2007 she was conferred the title of Honors Disciplinary Faculty. Two months ago, the government of Spain bestowed on her the Officer's Cross in the Order of Isabella, the Catholic. A memorial service and celebration of her life will be held on May 6th, 2011 at 1 p.m., at the Franciscan Renewal Center, 5802 E. Lincoln Drive, Scottsdale. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to either the Valdivieso Scholarship Fund, Thunderbird School of Global Management, 15249 N. 59th Ave, Glendale, Az, 85306; or the Valdivieso Maintenance Fund for the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Franciscan Renewal Center, 5802 E. Lincoln Drive, Scottsdale, Az, 85253. Arrangements entrusted to Messinger Indian School Mortuary.