W&L’s Ellen Mayock Receives SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award
Ellen C. Mayock, professor of Spanish at Washington and Lee University, has received a 2010 Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). As Virginia’s highest honor for faculty at its public and private colleges and universities, the award recognizes superior accomplishments in teaching, research and public service.
“Professor Mayock is an accomplished scholar and a terrific teacher,” said W&L Provost June Aprille. “And her positive influence on students extends far beyond the classroom, as she organizes opportunities for them to use their language skills in service and outreach programs. The SCHEV awards provide wonderful recognition for outstanding educators in the Commonwealth. I am delighted that W&L is represented among the 2010 awardees.”
Mayock, who joined the W&L faculty in 1997, teaches Spanish language, literature, culture, translation and cinema. A member of the Romance Languages Department, she also is a core faculty member of two interdisciplinary programs, Women’s and Gender Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and teaches classes in those areas as well.
The professor holds a B.A. in Spanish and French from the University of Virginia; an M.A. in Spanish from Middlebury College; and a Ph.D. in Hispanic literature from the University of Texas. She also did graduate work at Temple University in Paris, France.
Mayock is the author of The “Strange Girl” in Twentieth-Century Spanish Novels Written by Women (University Press of the South, 2004) and the co-editor (with Domnica Radulescu, professor of French at W&L) of Ruptured Selves, Resisting Bodies: Feminist Activism in the Academy (forthcoming with McFarland).
Mayock has written many articles and book reviews for such publications as Letras Femeninas, Excavatio, Anales de la Literatura Española Contemporánea and Letras Peninsulares. She also has contributed chapters to books including Women in the Spanish Novel Today, Anuario 2006 de Estudios Celianos-La Obra del Literato y sus Alrededores: Estudios Críticos en Torno a Camilo José Cela and Latin American Writers: An Encyclopedia.
Mayock also has co-authored a Spanish textbook supplement and translated a play, and she has given numerous presentations at conferences in the U.S. and in Spain, Mexico, France and other countries. Among her many professional involvements, she serves on the board of directors of the Asociación Hispánica de Humanidades and directed its Fifth International Conference in Seville, Spain.
At W&L, she serves as a faculty adviser to English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), a student organization that provides translation services and language classes for residents of Rockbridge County. One of ESOL’s signature activities is a service trip to the Dominican Republic, where W&L students work with local elementary school students and with young baseball players for the San Diego Padres.
From 2004 to 2006, Mayock served as associate dean of the College at W&L. During that time, she oversaw a year-long program, Celebrating Women at Washington and Lee, commemorating the 20th anniversary of coeducation at the University. She currently serves as a faculty representative from the College to W&L’s Board of Trustees and chairs the University Athletics Committee. In that capacity, she is the institution’s Faculty Athletics Representative for the ODAC and the NCAA.
She has received several grants for her scholarship, for instructional technology and for ESOL. In 2006, she won W&L’s Anece F. McCloud Excellence in Diversity Award, which goes to a member of the campus community who demonstrates commitment to promoting the awareness, acceptance and appreciation of diversity at the University.
Before coming to W&L, Mayock taught Spanish and French at the Germantown Academy, Fort Washington, Pa.; English at the Carmen Pérez private institute, Madrid, Spain; and Spanish at the University of Texas, Pennsylvania State University (Delaware County) and Saint Joseph’s University (Philadelphia).
Mayock will receive her award at a ceremony and luncheon on Feb. 18, at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. She and the other recipients will also receive an honorary introduction on the floor of the General Assembly.
SCHEV is Virginia’s coordinating body for higher education. Established in 1956, it promotes higher education in the Commonwealth by making public policy recommendations to the governor and the General Assembly and by administering educational programs. For more information, see http://www.schev.edu/.
