Roberta Waldbaum, assistant professor in languages and literatures at DU, will hold the initial Anna Maglione-Sie Endowed Professorship in Italian Culture.
The endowed chair will allow DU to enhance its Italian program, which has seen a 64% increase in enrollment in the past five years.
“We plan to expand our course offerings at the upper levels and develop an innovative curriculum, enhance faculty research projects and teaching opportunities, establish educational programming and special projects with DU departments and develop closer ties to the community — both locally and in Italy,” Waldbaum said.
“We also can enrich the study-abroad experience of DU students studying in Italy and Italian students coming to DU.”Waldbaum was appointed assistant professor in languages and literatures in 1996 after receiving her PhD in higher education from DU.
Waldbaum, who also has a master’s degree in Italian, is co-director of the DU–Bologna International Center for Civic Engagement.
She has won two teaching awards at DU, including the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1998 and the Driscoll Master Teaching Award in 1992.
The Italian program, behind Spanish and French, is the most popular language of study pursued by students at DU.
For the winter 2008 quarter, 157 students are enrolled in Italian and 42 of those students are pursuing majors and minors in Italian.
“For the past two years, more DU students have chosen Italy over other international destinations when deciding where to continue their education abroad,” said DU Chancellor Robert Coombe.
DU’s Cherrington Global Scholars Program offers students 150 study abroad programs in 54 countries on six continents.
Among the 10 program options in Italy, students can choose to study through DU’s Bologna Center at the University of Bologna, which is led by university faculty.
In addition to the extensive language immersion and study abroad opportunities through the Italian program, DU students can receive credit or a stipend by teaching in Denver schools through the Ital Internship.
The Ital Program is an outreach to six Denver-area schools where students teach Italian to elementary, middle and high school students.
The endowed chair was made possible through a $1.5 million gift from the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation.
Anna Maglione-Sie came to the US from Italy in the 1950s.
She and her husband John moved to Colorado in 1984 when he took a position with Tele-Communications, Inc.
After raising five children, she became active in the community through the foundation she co-founded.