On Nov. 27, Donna Van Bodegraven, center, chair of the Department of Foreign Languages at Elon, met with Lynanne Schaeffer, Assistant Director of Development and Alumni Relations at the Penn State Abington campus, and retired Spanish professor Enrique Grönlund from the same campus to announce the establishment of the Enrique Grönlund Award in Languages. The award will provide funding to “honor and recognize outstanding achievement by an undergraduate student who is enrolled at Penn State Abington who plans to major in a foreign language, preferably Spanish, or Secondary Education intending to teach foreign languages, preferably Spanish, or Business intending to pursue international business, with an emphasis on foreign languages and cultures.” (Quote from the certificate recognizing the gift and signed by Penn State president Graham Spanier).
Van Bodegraven was an undergraduate student at Penn State Abington from 1970 to 1972 and took her first college Spanish class with Grönlund in the fall of 1971. Van Bodegraven endowed the award to honor the professor whose influence helped define her professional path. In a recent testimony to Grönlund published in the Penn State Abington alumni magazine, Van Bodegraven wrote: “I think of him every time I walk into my own classroom. I hope that I have inspired a few students along the way in the same manner in which Professor Enrique Grönlund inspired me.”