The Albert Valdman Fund

In 2008 the Department created the Albert Valdman Graduate Student Research and Travel Fund in honor of Rudy Professor Emeritus Albert Valdman, to foster graduate student development as Professor Valdman has throughout his career. The fund is used to pay research and travel expenses for graduate students in the French linguistics MA and PhD programs. "As his colleagues and former students," says Associate Professor Julie Auger, "we feel strongly that we would not be where we are in our lives today, both personally and professionally, without the benefit of Professor Valdman's teaching and mentoring." Valdman, still very active in research on Haitian Creole and Louisiana French, retired from the faculty of the Department of French and Italian and the Department of Linguistics in 2004, but still serves as Director of the Creole Institute. In May 2011, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities awarded its book of the year prize to the Dictionary of Louisiana French, As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities, which is the work of senior editor Albert Valdman (Rudy Professor Emeritus of French Linguistics), associate editor Kevin J. Rottet (Associate Professor of French Linguistics), with assistant editors Barry Jean Ancelet, Richard Guidry, Thomas A. Klingler (PhD '92), Amanda LaFleur, Tamara Lindner (PhD '08), Michael D. Picone, and Dominique Ryon. Alumni Deborah Piston-Hatlen (MA '89) and Marvin D. Moody (PhD '72) also contributed signficantly to this 10-year project.

If you would like to support this fund in Professor Valdman's name, please click the GIVE NOW button. Income from these gifts is used to support research and travel for graduate students in French linguistics, within the Department of French & Italian.