Dr. Sheila Ackerlind

Submitted by: Susan McDonald Bizak ‘78

Dr. Ackerlind was the most influential teacher in my life. I met her on our first Registration Day. She spent time to get to know me, my interests, Spanish Comprehension level, and personality. She placed me in Medieval Spanish Poetry for my first college Spanish class. She certainly knew how to take pompous out of my self-image! She challenged me and inspired me every single day throughout my 4 years as a Spanish major.

She taught me to think, to aspire, to teach, to challenge my ideas to make my dreams and the dreams of hundreds of my students come true.

On vacations, since she lived near my grandparents in New York, she took me to Lincoln Center, to concerts and Spanish plays, to dinner, and to visit a world of possibilities. She always supported and encouraged me. She showed me what it means to be a strong, resilient, independent woman.

Doctora Sheila Ackerlind is my friend to this day. She is my confidante, my mentor, my teacher, and the person I admire most in the world.