University Times

Nancy B. Flórez-Estrada was a major influence at Pitt-Greensburg, her colleagues recall, helping to found several Spanish language programs on campus and serving as the first director of the International Academic Village.

Thirty-two years a campus fixture, beginning as a Spanish instructor in 1982 and retiring as an associate professor in 2014, Flórez-Estrada died Jan. 19, 2015.

Franklin D. Wilson, president of the campus faculty senate and faculty member in sociology and criminal justice, had an office next door to Flórez-Estrada and worked closely with her when he directed the Behavioral Sciences Academic Village. He is now director of the Academic Village living/learning residence program, which also creates cultural events for the community.

Wilson remembers Flórez-Estrada as “one of the founding mothers of the Academic Villages here. It was an idea that only a few faculty championed at the beginning. They turned an idea into an important, central part of our campus now.”

Developing a close friendship with Flórez-Estrada since his own start on campus in 1998, he said the global cultural events on campus, which centered on food, music and art, were “her signature, her trademark, and it remains today … She made that happen almost by the force of her personality.

“I’ve never seen anyone who had as big of an impact on students as she had,” he added. “She was at least a mentor, but it was something more than that. Most of us would be happy if we had the slightest amount of impact on our students that she had. They listened to her and they knew without any question what they meant to her…

“She pushed herself to excellence and there was a bunch of us who got pulled along with her.”

Flórez-Estrada received her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish language and literature, with a minor in French language and literature, from Grove City College. She earned a Master of Arts in Spanish language and peninsular literature at Michigan State University, after which a Fulbright travel grant and Spanish government grant let her continue graduate study at the University of Complutense de Madrid. She received a PhD in Spanish applied linguistics and methodology from Pitt.

Her courses ranged from Elementary Spanish, Conversation and Advanced Grammar and Composition to the Modern Spanish Novel and Hispanic Legends. In 2010, she helped develop a new Spanish major and aided in planning the Spanish curriculum for Spanish education majors, which is now undergoing state review.

She also developed and coordinated the elementary and intermediate Spanish recitation program and its weekly video component; trained and supervised the program’s teaching assistants, and coordinated and supervised computer-assisted language instruction for elementary and intermediate Spanish courses on campus. In addition, for her entire Pitt career she advised Greensburg’s Spanish Club, which brought cultural events to campus.

At foreign-language conferences, she made presentations and conducted workshops on teaching techniques and strategies for grammar and vocabulary acquisition, language classroom video use and other subjects, based on a project with Pitt and Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico.

She was vice president for two years and president for eight years of the western Pennsylvania regional chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, 2003-13. She received the 1989 Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the 2001 Pitt-Greensburg Professional Development Award for faculty, the 2010 Pitt-Greensburg Alumni Association Outstanding Faculty Award, the 2010 Pitt-Greensburg Service Award for faculty and the 2002, 2009 and 2014 Adviser of the Year Award from Pitt-Greensburg’s Student Government Association.

While heading the International Academic Village 1999-09, Flórez-Estrada worked with students to develop international programming, including more than 35 workshops, bringing in international speakers from Chile, China, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Mexico, Nigeria and other countries; studio artists in residence from Mexico, international musicians, artists, filmmakers and photographers; an international film series; cultural and political series such as the Middle East and Islam series; cultural celebrations including Chinese New Year and Brazilian Carnaval; international dinners, and international study-abroad trips to Latin American countries and Spain.

In 2006, she was an education consultant to the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) Fulbright Hays Group Project Abroad to northeast Brazil for five weeks.

She also played a key role in the creation of Pitt-Greensburg’s Latin American studies certificate (LAS) program with CLAS in 2001 and had been the campus faculty LAS adviser since the certificate’s inception.

In addition, she was the Pitt-Greensburg representative for the Pittsburgh campus Center for Educational Resources on Islamic Studies and held a Middle Eastern events series at Pitt-Greensburg, 2002-13.

She also served on the Westmoreland County Community College grants advisory board, 1990-2009, including as chairperson, 2001-09.

Prior to joining the Pitt faculty, Flórez-Estrada taught at Purdue (1967-72) and Seton Hill University (1979-82). She also was a Spanish/English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor and translator for General Foods in Madrid (1973-78). In addition, she taught ESL summer courses in Saint Vincent College’s International Language Institute, Interstudy in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and the Instituto de Idiomas Benton, Madrid.

Flórez-Estrada was teaching at UPG last fall when she became too ill to continue.

Sharon P. Smith, president of Pitt-Greensburg, recalls Flórez-Estrada as “an incredible person, the kind of consummate teacher who loves her students and is loved by the students.

“That passion for the students … it was just in her DNA,” Smith said. It was a continuing connection, caring for her students, caring for her colleagues, helping them be all they can be. She kept coming back and teaching — she was here for them always.”

She is survived by her husband, Jose Luis Flórez-Estrada, son Jaime Flórez-Estrada and his wife Claudia, daughter Krista Flórez-Estrada Gallucci and her husband Nicolas, and grandchildren Benjamin and William Gallucci.

Donations in her honor may be made to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, 14 Penn Plaza, Suite 1710, New York, NY 10122.

Nancy B. Flórez-Estrada was a major influence at Pitt-Greensburg, her colleagues recall, helping to found several Spanish language programs on campus and serving as the first director of the International Academic Village.

Thirty-two years a campus fixture, beginning as a Spanish instructor in 1982 and retiring as an associate professor in 2014, Flórez-Estrada died Jan. 19, 2015.

Franklin D. Wilson, president of the campus faculty senate and faculty member in sociology and criminal justice, had an office next door to Flórez-Estrada and worked closely with her when he directed the Behavioral Sciences Academic Village. He is now director of the Academic Village living/learning residence program, which also creates cultural events for the community.

Wilson remembers Flórez-Estrada as “one of the founding mothers of the Academic Villages here. It was an idea that only a few faculty championed at the beginning. They turned an idea into an important, central part of our campus now.”

Developing a close friendship with Flórez-Estrada since his own start on campus in 1998, he said the global cultural events on campus, which centered on food, music and art, were “her signature, her trademark, and it remains today … She made that happen almost by the force of her personality.

“I’ve never seen anyone who had as big of an impact on students as she had,” he added. “She was at least a mentor, but it was something more than that. Most of us would be happy if we had the slightest amount of impact on our students that she had. They listened to her and they knew without any question what they meant to her…

“She pushed herself to excellence and there was a bunch of us who got pulled along with her.”

Flórez-Estrada received her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish language and literature, with a minor in French language and literature, from Grove City College. She earned a Master of Arts in Spanish language and peninsular literature at Michigan State University, after which a Fulbright travel grant and Spanish government grant let her continue graduate study at the University of Complutense de Madrid. She received a PhD in Spanish applied linguistics and methodology from Pitt.

Her courses ranged from Elementary Spanish, Conversation and Advanced Grammar and Composition to the Modern Spanish Novel and Hispanic Legends. In 2010, she helped develop a new Spanish major and aided in planning the Spanish curriculum for Spanish education majors, which is now undergoing state review.

She also developed and coordinated the elementary and intermediate Spanish recitation program and its weekly video component; trained and supervised the program’s teaching assistants, and coordinated and supervised computer-assisted language instruction for elementary and intermediate Spanish courses on campus. In addition, for her entire Pitt career she advised Greensburg’s Spanish Club, which brought cultural events to campus.

At foreign-language conferences, she made presentations and conducted workshops on teaching techniques and strategies for grammar and vocabulary acquisition, language classroom video use and other subjects, based on a project with Pitt and Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico.

She was vice president for two years and president for eight years of the western Pennsylvania regional chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, 2003-13. She received the 1989 Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the 2001 Pitt-Greensburg Professional Development Award for faculty, the 2010 Pitt-Greensburg Alumni Association Outstanding Faculty Award, the 2010 Pitt-Greensburg Service Award for faculty and the 2002, 2009 and 2014 Adviser of the Year Award from Pitt-Greensburg’s Student Government Association.

While heading the International Academic Village 1999-09, Flórez-Estrada worked with students to develop international programming, including more than 35 workshops, bringing in international speakers from Chile, China, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Mexico, Nigeria and other countries; studio artists in residence from Mexico, international musicians, artists, filmmakers and photographers; an international film series; cultural and political series such as the Middle East and Islam series; cultural celebrations including Chinese New Year and Brazilian Carnaval; international dinners, and international study-abroad trips to Latin American countries and Spain.

In 2006, she was an education consultant to the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) Fulbright Hays Group Project Abroad to northeast Brazil for five weeks.

She also played a key role in the creation of Pitt-Greensburg’s Latin American studies certificate (LAS) program with CLAS in 2001 and had been the campus faculty LAS adviser since the certificate’s inception.

In addition, she was the Pitt-Greensburg representative for the Pittsburgh campus Center for Educational Resources on Islamic Studies and held a Middle Eastern events series at Pitt-Greensburg, 2002-13.

She also served on the Westmoreland County Community College grants advisory board, 1990-2009, including as chairperson, 2001-09.

Prior to joining the Pitt faculty, Flórez-Estrada taught at Purdue (1967-72) and Seton Hill University (1979-82). She also was a Spanish/English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor and translator for General Foods in Madrid (1973-78). In addition, she taught ESL summer courses in Saint Vincent College’s International Language Institute, Interstudy in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and the Instituto de Idiomas Benton, Madrid.

Flórez-Estrada was teaching at UPG last fall when she became too ill to continue.

Sharon P. Smith, president of Pitt-Greensburg, recalls Flórez-Estrada as “an incredible person, the kind of consummate teacher who loves her students and is loved by the students.

“That passion for the students … it was just in her DNA,” Smith said. It was a continuing connection, caring for her students, caring for her colleagues, helping them be all they can be. She kept coming back and teaching — she was here for them always.”

She is survived by her husband, Jose Luis Flórez-Estrada, son Jaime Flórez-Estrada and his wife Claudia, daughter Krista Flórez-Estrada Gallucci and her husband Nicolas, and grandchildren Benjamin and William Gallucci.

Donations in her honor may be made to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, 14 Penn Plaza, Suite 1710, New York, NY 10122.

—Marty Levine