MIDTESOL Matters
Fall 2006
A Publication of Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

MIDTESOL Retirees: Honoring Those Who Have Served


This past year, MIDTESOL saw the retirement of several key educators who have contributed a great deal to our profession. These professionals have seen many changes in our organization and in our field, in general; we are excited to hear more about their exceptional careers in this special section dedicated to them on pages 4-6. I also want to take this moment to thank those who interviewed and prepared the articles; without your help, this project could not have happened!


Ron Long: One of the important contributors to the field of TESL in
MIDTESOL
By Dr. Robert Yates, Central Missouri State University


Effective September 1, 2006, after thirty-one years, Dr. Ronald (Ron) Long officially retired from Central Missouri State University. Anyone who knows Ron knows he will never really retire from teaching and learning, and he really hasn't. His retirement only signifies that Ron is no longer a full time Professor of English/TESL at CMSU. On the retirement of an important member of MIDTESOL, it is fitting to honor our colleague's contributions to our field.


During his undergraduate years, Ron became interested in the field of linguistics when he took a linguistics course in his senior year at Nyack College. This lead to two summers of graduate studies in linguistics at the Summer Institute of Linguistics at the University of Oklahoma. He completed his MA and PhD in linguistics with minors in cultural anthropology and applied linguistics at Indiana University. During his graduate studies, Ron did field research in New Mexico for his M.A. and in the Ivory Coast and West Africa for his PhD. Upon completion of his doctorate, he accepted his first full-time teaching position at Makerere University in Uganda. On return to the US, he taught at University of Texas of the Permian Basin (in Odessa) and California State University at Long Beach before accepting a tenure-track position at Central Missouri State University in 1975. During his time in the Ivory Coast, he married his wife Ellen in 1969 and their daughter was born in Uganda in 1972.
At the time Ron came to Missouri, Central offered an MA in English for Non-Native Speakers which combined courses in literature, language, linguistics and applied linguistics. There was no intensive English program, no ESOL certification and no professional development assistance for ESL public school teachers. Even MIDTESOL did not exist.


MIDTESOL was inaugurated as MOTESOL in 1978 in the St. Louis area. Ron became involved in 1979 just as MOTESOL was being transforming into MIDTESOL. While Ron was not the first newsletter editor, he did volunteer to edit the newsletter in 1979 and has been the longest serving newsletter editor from 1979 to 1991. He has also served multiple terms on the Executive Board and as President in 2000-2001. Over his time at Central, Ron has made innumerable presentations, especially on the uses of technology at MIDTESOL and international TESOL.


His service to MIDTESOL and TESOL deserves important recognition upon his retirement; however, Ron's professional advocacy for our field goes well beyond his service to MIDTESOL. Ron was instrumental developing the MA TESL program at Central Missouri State University in 1986. This program has graduated hundreds of ESOL teachers who teach in schools all over Missouri and the world. He was also one of three teacher educators in MIDTESOL who worked collaboratively from 1980 to 1990 to establish the Pre-K-12 ESOL in Missouri in 1990. From 1994 to 2001, as the Project Director of ESL Advisory Services, Ron received a series of grants totaling approximately $500,000 from DESE to provide on-site professional development assistance to ESL teachers and their students in schools across Missouri. For me, Ron's greatest contribution to what we do as ESL teachers is his relentless advocacy for English Language Learners and their teachers in Missouri and beyond.


Of course, Ron has not really retired. He will still be active learning and teaching and providing professional development for teachers of ELLs. This summer he completed a national level certification with WestEd's Director of Teacher Professional Development, Dr Aida Walqui in WestEd's Quality Teaching for English Learners program. He has also accepted a part-time position with the Information Services (IS) Department at Central where he will be facilitating communication between IS and the faculty on new technologies. If you wish to offer your personal congratulations to Ron, you may email him at rwl1969@charter.net.