“Celebrating 29 years of Excellence,” Golden Key International Honour Society welcomed new members to the stage on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at the Induction Ceremony and reception held at 7 p.m. in the Lowman Student Center.
The 2009 Honorary members inducted were Dr. Jamie L. Hebert, Dean of College of Arts and Sciences; Dr. Kandi A. Tayebi, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Graduate Studies; and Dr. Enrique Mallen, Professor of Linguistics, Department of Foreign Languages.
Jadrian Wooten, President of the Golden Key International Honour Society said Mallen was selected as an Honorary Member “because of his work with the Picasso Project and his leadership with the study abroad program in Spain.”
The Picasso Project is an encyclopedic digital library of the works of Pablo Picasso, and Mallen also started the Study Abroad Program in Spain. The Study Abroad Program last year “was a great success and I am excited that we are continuing the program this summer,” he said.
“We try to find honorary members that have made a mark on students and have represented the university as a whole,” Wooten said.
Mallen has published several works about language, and whether it is visual or verbal language. Some books are; A Concordance of Pablo Picasso’s Spanish Writings (2009), Poesa del Lenguaje: De T. S. Elliot a Eduardo Espina (2008), La Sintaxis de la Carne: Pablo Picasso y Marie-Thrse Walter (2005), and The Visual Grammar of Pablo Picasso (2003).
“I was very surprised and honored when I was contacted,” Mallen said, on behalf of becoming an honorary member.
Honorary members have the same benefits as regular members and serve as mentors to future members.
“If a student needs to talk with someone, we can tap our list of honorary members and try to help foster connections,” Wooten said.
I light of his induction, Enrique Mallen, director of the Picasso Project and director of the Study Abroad Program in the foreign languages department, shared the importance of having passion for the work you do.
“I gave a presentation yesterday on the Picasso Project in the Computer Science Department. One graduate raised her hand and said, ‘this must take a lot of your time. How do you do it?’ I responded, ‘Getting very little sleep, but loving every minute of it,'” Mallen said.
This year marks the third for Mallen at SHSU, looking back recalls why he became a Bearkat.
“When I visited the campus, I was really impressed by the atmosphere and collegiality. After meeting with Dean de Castro, I was convinced that this was a great place to work,” Mallen said.
Mallen grew up in Sevilla, Spain, where he earned a “Licenciatura” from the Universidad de Sevilla in Spain. Then he received a grant to pursue his Master’s degree at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. After the completion of his Master’s degree he transferred to Cornell University, where he received his Ph. D. in Linguistics.
Now with teaching fields in Linguistics and Art History, Mallen said he has a career influenced by the people in his past.
“What influenced my decision to become a professor were the teachers I had in high school and college. I had tremendous respect for what they did, and the world of knowledge that they represented” Mallen said.
Although his career influence has former teachers, Mallen said his motivation to teach is being able to “learn along with the students,”
“My favorite thing about teaching is sharing ideas with my students,” Mallen said. “Every class I teach, even if it is apparently on the same subject, provides me with the opportunity to revisit ideas, to explore new angles. I love to share my love for certain subjects with my students.”