George Woodyard, Professor of Spanish & Portuguese (1966-2005), expert in Latin American theater, and founding editor of the center’s Latin American Theater Review journal, was a pillar in CLACS. Upon his retirement, he and wife, Eleanor Woodyard, established the George and Eleanor Woodyard International Educator Award, the highest prize KU awards for international educational contributions. There have been 27 Woodyard awardees since 1999, and the CLACS community now has its 11th: Dr. Mehrangiz Najafizadeh of Sociology. Mehrangiz has long served on CLACS’ Graduate, Executive, and now Undergraduate Committees and rarely misses our public events. Originally focusing on gender in Costa Rica before switching her research focus to her heritage country of Azerbaijan, Mehrangiz has never abandoned her interest in and commitment to education about Latin America and the Caribbean. Her interests simply compound, like my mortgage, except in a good way. We salute Mehrangiz and treasure her central place in our community. For more on Mehrangiz and her Woodyard award, see: Media link.