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On April 1, the University of Oregon community came together to celebrate Jeff Magoto, director of the Yamada Language Center (YLC). Jeff has been a main stay of the language teaching and learning community for twenty years.

“CASLS would not be the center that it is today without Jeff,” explains Associate Director Mandy Gettler. “He has advocated for the value of language education both on campus, when cuts were deep and looming, and across the country. As a member of our advisory board, Jeff has brought in guidance, visions for new projects, and a keen eye for strategic partnerships.”

As director of YLC, Jeff has championed the study of all languages, especially less commonly taught languages. YLC has taught many languages such as Arabic and Korean as self-study courses and, once high enrollments were established, transitioned those courses to regular academic departments.

Jeff also serves as a course developer and co-instructor for the American English Institute’s eLearning program. Through AEI’s MOOC, he has trained thousands of English language teachers all over the world.

Jeff has had a large impact on CASLS and its projects as well. Jeff was the lead project coordinator for A National Virtual Language Lab (ANVILL), originally called Speech in Burns, that continues to bring technology-based language learning tools to all programs, regardless of their size or budget.

Thank you, Jeff, for being a tireless advocate for language and culture learning both at the UO and across the country. Here’s to twenty more years working together!