Marie-Lise Gazarian

A graduate of Columbia University, Dr. Marie-Lise Gazarian is Professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature, Director of the Graduate Program in Spanish at St. John's University, Vice President for the Northeast of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, and Moderator of Epsilon Kappa, St. John's Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi. In 2001 she was awarded the Order of Don Quijote by Sigma Delta Pi. She is co-editor with Mónica Christopher-Sánchez of Entre Rascacielos, the literary journal she founded in the fall of 2001 and which is published by St. John's University. The journal, which stands as a stepping board for young writers, is designed by Katerina Damskiy, an alumna of St. John’s. Dr. Gazarian has been instrumental in establishing the Gabriela Mistral Scholarship /Beca Gabriela Mistral at St. John's University, as part of the Graduate Program in Spanish. She was appointed Representative of the Fundación Premio Nobel Gabriela Mistral in New York and Cultural Ambassador of Ecuador in the United States.

Dr. Gazarian has had a long-standing experience in the promotion of Hispanic culture in the United States, for which she received the Al Mérito Cultural award from the Government of Spain, in 1981, and a Citation of Honor from the Honorable Claire Shulman, President of the Borough of Queens, in 1991 and 2000. She was awarded a Certificate of Special Recognition from the United States Congress in 1997 and a Certificate of Congressional Recognition from the Government of Ecuador in 2000. She was the recipient of the prestigious St. Vincent de Paul Teacher-Scholar Award for the year 2002 for her “continued excellence in teaching and scholarship.” In April 2003, she was awarded the Order of Alfonso X el Sabio by the King of Spain, one of the highest recognitions granted by the Spanish Government. In April 2004, she received from the Government of Chile the Order of Merit “Gabriela Mistral,” named after the Chilean poet, a decoration granted to literary figures, artists and scholars.