Lecturer in Turkish Erika Gilson received the Jere L. Bacharach Service Award at the 2012 MESA Annual Meeting held in Denver, CO. The Award “recognizes the contributions of individuals through their outstanding service to MESA or the profession. Service is defined broadly to include work in diverse areas, including but not limited to outreach, librarianship, and film.”

Gilson’s citation read:

“In recognition of her exceptional dedication for over 30 years to the development and promotion of Turkish and Turkic language studies,

With admiration for her accomplishments as co-founder of, and 26 years’ service as Executive Secretary-Treasurer of, the American Association of Teachers of Turkic Languages, and for her work as editor of the AATT Bulletin;

For all her work building and professionalizing the field, and training teachers and students, all the while developing new materials, tools, standards and resources, and securing funding and opportunities that have benefitted so many.

In acknowledgment of her years as a tireless advocate for language learning and superior teaching via ACTFL [American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages], NCOLCTL [National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages (founding member of)] and NLMERC [National Middle East Language Resource Center],

It is an honor to recognize Erika H. Gilson, a creative, dedicated, and generous colleague whose lifelong commitment to integrating language research and education has enriched so many programs of study and inspired so many students and colleagues.”

Previous winners with NES connections include Fred McGraw Donner (Ph.D. 1975) in 2008, Howard Alexander Reed (Ph.D. 1951) in 2006, and Richard L. Chambers (Ph.D. 1968) in 1998.