Fernando Rubio recognized for leadership in world language education

Fernando Rubio, Professor Adjunct of Linguistics and Director of the Yale Center for Language Study, has been awarded the 2025 Wilga Rivers Award for Leadership in World Language Education by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).

The ACTFL is a membership community of language education professionals who are “passionate about expanding cultural richness and diversity at all levels of education.” The organization publishes research, standards, and assessments to advance the practice of language learning.  

The Wilga Rivers Award is one of ACTFL’s annual awards, which recognize outstanding contributions to the field of language education.  

“This award is a tribute to the collective work of many, and a reminder of the responsibility we all carry to continue Wilga Rivers’s legacy in language education, research, and service to our profession,” said Rubio of receiving the award.

In 2019, Rubio was named an ACTFL Hall of Fame nominee by the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching Spanish (SWCOLT). Prior to joining Yale in 2023, he served as the Director of the Second Language Teaching and Research Center at the University of Utah.

Rubio's research interests include applied linguistics and teaching methodologies, with a focus on technology-enhanced language learning and teaching. He is the author of two textbooks, Tercer Milenio (Kendall-Hunt, 2009) and Juntos (Cengage, 2018). Additionally, he co-edited the volume Hybrid Language Teaching and Learning: Exploring Theoretical, Pedagogical and Curricular Issues (Heinle, 2012) and co-authored Creating Effective Blended Language Learning Courses: A Research-Based Guide from Planning to Evaluation (Cambridge UP, 2020), which was honored with the 2019–2020 MLA Mildenberger Prize.  

Awardees will be celebrated at the 2025 ACTFL Annual Convention & World Languages Expo in New Orleans, Louisiana on Friday, November 21.