Dr. Samuel G. Saldívar Professor Emeritus, United States Military Academy West Point, New York

Dr. Samuel G. Saldívar is a professor emeritus of Spanish and director of instruction at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Dr. Saldívar was born in Mexico, and in 1956, he was invited by Mr. Merrill Hathaway Ruggles, a high school teacher from Punta Gorda, Florida, to study in the United States. At Charlotte High School in Punta Gorda, Dr. Saldívar began to learn English in the eleventh grade. Upon graduating from high school, he entered Florida State University (FSU) where he earned an undergraduate degree in Spanish, French, and English, and a graduate degree in foreign language pedagogy. He joined the FSU faculty as an instructor in the Foreign Languages Education Department.

In 1966, Dr. Saldívar became a civilian instructor of Spanish in the Department of Foreign Languages at the United States Military Academy (USMA). At that time, there was only one civilian instructor for each language. While teaching full time, he earned a doctorate in Latin American Literature at New York University. In 1989, he became a naturalized United States citizen. In 1994, Dr. Saldívar was promoted to the rank of Professor of Spanish, and for the last eleven years, he has held the position of Director of Instruction in the Department of Foreign Languages. He has been a member of several USMA faculty committees and has participated in numerous institutional and community projects and activities. Using his leave time for twenty summers, Dr. Saldívar also taught undergraduate and graduate courses in the Spanish School at Middlebury College. Dr. Saldívar and his wife, Toni, met at Florida State University as undergraduates. They have two sons, Samuel and Matthew.