Scholarship to honor trailblazing professor

Theresa Perez, professor emerita, Department of Middle, Secondary and K-12 Education, lived her life as a champion for social justice. At UNC Charlotte, Perez displayed a spirit that nurtured and developed the Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) program. She knew it would be an important factor in improving the lives of immigrant families in the community.

“She fought for additional faculty lines and co-chaired every search committee to build the faculty team in the Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) program at UNC Charlotte,” said Lan Kolano, an education professor and graduate program director for TESL. “By the time she retired, we had four full-time faculty members in the Department of Middle, Secondary and K-12 Education. Hundreds of students have graduated from the TESL program and entered the teaching force as advocates for immigrant students and their families.”

Perez died in January 2019. But her friends and former colleagues in the Cato College of Education are honoring her memory by establishing a scholarship in her name. The college is crowdfunding to support the Theresa Perez Memorial Scholarship, which will be awarded to graduate students in the TESL program.

Crowdfund UNC Charlotte, administered by the Division of University Advancement, is an online platform for students, faculty and staff to raise money to support ventures that are important to them.

“This scholarship will honor her legacy and help her memory live on,” Kolano said. “Dr. Perez devoted her life to education and service. This fund will support candidates who share her vision for equity and education in their pursuit to become a North Carolina teacher.”

Perez, who taught middle school before moving to the university level, was born in San Jose, California, and grew up in Fresno. Perez held a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a master’s degree in linguistics. She earned a doctorate in curriculum and teacher education from Stanford University. She was recruited to UNC Charlotte in 1998, where she taught and mentored for 14 years.

In California, Perez was the first Latina to run for the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. She retired in 2012 and returned to Fresno after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Kolano said Perez chaired the search committee that hired her in 2004. She considered Perez not only a colleague and mentor but a friend.

“She was a prolific scholar, educator and mentor to me,” Kolano said. “She gave me guidance and supported my development as a faculty member and as a new mother. She taught me about strength, resiliency and, most importantly, in the power of voice. Both my professional and personal life have been forever shaped by the relationship we shared.”