Jean Fornasiero FIPLV Award 2025 nominee

LCNAU

Jean Fornasiero

Prof Emerita Jean Fornasiero has provided decades of unstinting service and leadership to languages education and research in Australia. Her personal academic focus has been on French language, culture, history and literature, in which she has educated generations of young scholars, while developing an exemplary publication list. She has also helped bring to the fore our understanding of Franco-Australian relations.

A longstanding champion of language teaching and learning– from schools to university – she has worked actively on the executive committees of organisations such as South Australian French Teachers Association
(SAFTA), Federation of Association of Teachers of French in Australia (FATFA), and as chair of the Association of Heads of French Programs in Australia. Her contributions to French language and culture and to language education more generally have been recognised through election to the Australian Academy of the Humanities, as well as being honoured by France as Chevalier and then Officier in the Ordres des Palmes Académiques.

Prof Emerita Fornasiero has served with exceptional distinction as president of the Languages and Cultures Network for Australian Universities (LCNAU, 2016-2021), which she continues to serve as past president. She has remarkable ability to work successfully with others – as educator, researcher, mentor and advocate for languages. She has also played a pivotal role in the National Languages Campaign aimed at encouraging students to learn languages at university, and in the promotion of the University Languages Portal Australia (ULPA). She has also worked with language teachers and students in schools for many years, and has a deep understanding of and experience in language pedagogy, and curriculum reform.

Prof Emerita Fornasiero has made exceptional contributions to intercultural understanding and language education in Australia with deep impact across the board. As such, she is an entirely deserving recipient of the FIPLV International Award.