Globetrotting linguist pushes at limits

A native of Russia who teaches in Nicaragua, Irina Smirnova-Godoy, M.A. '95, quickly identified "a quest for excellence" as the motivating force within the UB Department of Linguistics, where she was a Fulbright scholar.

"I always felt that the professors, once they had identified your academic potential, would push you to the upper limit, never letting you get by with half-cocked papers or settling for half-thought conclusions," she says.

Now a full-time professor at the department of foreign languages at Central American University in Managua, Smirnova-Godoy adopts a similar intellectual rigor in her teaching and course development. "Since our university is focusing more and more on graduate studies, a lot of emphasis is being given both to creating new graduate opportunities for Nicaraguans who are unable to study abroad, and in improving existing programs. All this is undertaken in a continuous pursuit of academic excellence.

"Among our initiatives is a graduate course for professional translators. Another seeks to develop foreign language courses for students in master's programs aimed at improving their skills in reading scientific materials."

Recalling her days at UB, Smirnova-Godoy cites two "most exciting" experiences. "One was the presentation of my paper at the First International Summer Institute in Cognitive Science in July 1994, which hosted 358 guests from 35 countries. (My knees are still shaking when I remember it!) The other is bringing my six-day-old daughter to class. I'll never forget the understanding of my classmates and the professor who made it possible."

A native of what is now Tver, Smirnova-Godoy met her ophthalmologist husband, Oscar Godoy De Leon, when he was studying in medical school in Tver. (He later spent a year studying in the UB Department of Ophthalmology). The couple's three daughters are, not surprisingly, trilingual.