The University of Scranton Honors Longtime Faculty Member
Pictured at the presentation of the 11th annual John L. Earl III Award are, from left: University of Scranton President Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., Pauline Earl, wife of the late John Earl; Karen Earl Kolon, M.D., daughter of the late John Earl; Linda Ledford-Miller, Ph.D., Earl Award recipient, chair and professor of world languages and cultures; and Harold Baillie, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Linda Ledford-Miller, Ph.D., chair and professor of world languages and cultures at The University of Scranton, was awarded the John L. Earl III Award for service to the university, the faculty, and the wider community. This award is presented annually to a member of the university community who demonstrates the spirit of generosity and dedication that the late Dr. John Earl, a distinguished professor of history, exemplified during his years at Scranton from 1964 to 1996.
A distinguished faculty member, Dr. Ledford-Miller has served at Scranton since 1985 and has earned three Fulbright fellowships during her career. In 2001, she was awarded a Fulbright to lecture at Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique, Africa. In 1990, she received a senior Fulbright Fellowship to lecture on comparative literature at San Carlos University in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and in 1979 she received her first Fulbright Fellowship for graduate study and research to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Dr. Ledford-Miller has also earned several awards at The University of Scranton including the Provost's Award for Excellence in Advancing Global Learning in 2007, the Provost's Award for Excellence in Integrating Diversity in Learning in 2005, and the International Center Award for Leadership in Global Education in 2003.
Her areas of interest and expertise include modern and contemporary prose of Latin America and U.S. women and other minority writers, Portuguese and Spanish language, travel writing, and popular culture in Latin America and the U.S.
Dr. Ledford-Miller served as chair to the assessment committee for Middle States self-study, the department's handbook committee, and as a member of the executive committee for Latin American studies. She served as the coordinator and organizer of several foreign languages immersion days and workshops, as acting director of the Women's Studies concentration and as a mentor for the Honor's Program.
She serves as a translator and interpreter in Spanish and Portuguese at the county courthouse, the local prison, the federal courthouse and area hospitals. She also has hosted and housed several international visitors including musicians from Yugoslavia and Spain, and study abroad students.
Dr. Ledford-Miller holds a bachelor's degree in English from The University of California, Irvine, a master's degree in comparative literature from Pennsylvania State University, and a master's degree in Luso-Brazilian literature from The University of Texas, Austin, where she also earned her Ph.D. in comparative literature.
