Honoring OHIO Professor Emerita Maureen Weissenrieder

The Department of Modern Languages mourns the loss of Maureen Weissenrieder, Professor Emerita of Spanish, who passed away unexpectedly in December. Maureen touched our lives in many ways with her generosity, kindness, and dedication to the department and the University.

As professor and department chair, she held high standards and expected colleagues and students to think outside of the box and reach for the stars. She taught a myriad of Spanish courses, both in linguistics and language teaching methodology, and was awarded the “Outstanding Teacher Award” for her excellence in teaching. She was involved with various study abroad programs and encouraged faculty to develop other learning opportunities that would best serve the needs of our students, culturally, linguistically, and intellectually. She considered leading the study abroad program in Jalapa, Mexico for a number of years as one of her major contributions to Ohio University. As an associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, she oversaw international studies programs and helped raised their profile across campus.

She became a very well-known and respected member of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and, even after retirement, continued to give workshops both nationally and internationally on how to teach towards language proficiency.

She was demanding as a professor, a chair, and an associate dean, but also expected an equal amount of effort from herself. 

“I thought of her as a role model,” says Betsy Partyka, professor emerita of Spanish, “and strived to follow in her footsteps. Maureen was direct and honest, but also sympathetic and understanding. When I became chair of MODL and she was an associate dean in CAS, I sought her advice often, and she willingly shared her experiences with policy and procedure and difficult situations. She offered her support and truly helped the entire college thrive.”

Maureen was a leader in collaboration, innovation, and a stickler to the rules. But she also loved life, music, and dancing. Many of us remember that she taught her students the Macarena and performed in one of the Spanish plays MODL staged in 1991, “Farsa del amor compradito” (The Farse of Purchased Love). For her role, she donned a wig and a beauty mole to play a bawdy character.

Although dedicated to everything Spanish her entire academic life, during retirement, Maureen became fascinated with her Irish family genealogy. She traced her family name, McCafferty, to Donegal, Ireland, and discovered that the local bar, McCafferty’s, has been run for generations by Maureen’s long-lost family. The photo above shows Maureen on her visit to Donegal and McCafferty’s Bar. 

Bärbel Such is associate professor of German and department chair in the Department of Modern Languages.