In October, the Iowa World Language Association (IWLA) gave alumnus Robert Benesh (BA '11 Asian Languages/MAT ’15 Foreign Language Education) the 2015 Teacher of Promise award for his work in ESL and Japanese education. 

Benesh says that his interest in teaching foreign languages was sparked early on in his studies of Japanese.

"I began to look at the world around me differently," he explained. "Information and ideas I used to take at face value had taken on a new level of complexity as I learned that values and beliefs are part of culture, and that every person in the world has a unique and equally valid perspective. I knew then that I never wanted to stop learning language."

IWLA is a statewide organization representing over 1,200 world language educators with the mission of advancing the education of world language, literature, and culture.