Marcel Andrade, Esteemed Spanish Professor, will be Missed
by Campus Community

UNC Asheville Spanish Professor Marcel Andrade, who a month ago was grading final exams at his hospital room, died Monday following a five-year battle with leukemia. He taught at UNCA for 30 years, serving for several years as the chair of the Foreign Languages Department.

Andrade was a noted author of some 15 books of Spanish literary classics written for students studying the Spanish language, including "Don Quijote," "Celestina" and "The Journal of Columbus." He published his last book, "Classic Spanish Stories and Plays," in 2001. His books are used at universities in the U.S., Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and throughout the Spanish-speaking world.

In 1995, Andrade was knighted by Spain for his work. The knighthood, in the scientific-academic Order of Alfonso the 10th, has been conferred on only two other Americans. UNCA also recognized him for his many roles on campus, naming him a Feldman Professor in 1998.

"While his many awards were well-deserved, he was most notably a consummate teacher who had a real concern for his students, " said long-time colleague, Henry Stern, a German professor and coordinator of the Fulbright program at UNCA. "These last few weeks, he was dictating his final exams from his hospital bed and a colleague would bring the exams back for him to grade. He was always very aware of his duties to his students and tried to do his best by his students."

Noted for his comprehensive, difficult tests, Andrade was also loved for his enthusiasm in class. "Long before I came to work at UNCA, I studied Spanish for two years with Dr. Andrade. He was an encouraging professor who ably brought to the classroom his love of the language, its history and its culture," said Merianne Epstein, UNCA Public Information director.

Andrade had a deep desire to make intercultural relations a reality. A native of Cuenca, Ecuador, he was the driving force behind UNCA's exchange agreement with Ecuador's Universidad del Azuay and arranged for some 200 UNCA students to study abroad over the past 25 years. He was also instrumental in preparing six students for Fulbright fellowships in Ecuador and Peru.

He was also able to bring some of Ecuador's best minds to UNCA. Claudio Malo Gonzalez, a leading figure in intellectual and cultural affairs in Ecuador, served as Fulbright Visiting Professor of Humanities at UNCA in 1989, helping UNCA to expand its cultural understanding and internationalize its curriculum. The former president of Ecuador, Rodrigo Borja, came to campus for an 18-day stay in 1993 to lecture on contemporary Latin American problems.

Andrade had a lighter side as well. An accomplished accordionist, he would often invite groups of students for dinner and later in the evening entertain them with Spanish and American tunes. And, according to Stern, Andrade was good friends with Dick Contino, one of the world's leading accordionists, and learned the finer points of playing from him.

Media Contacts:

• Tom Byers, Special Assistant to the Chancellor, 828/251-6500
• UNCA Public Information, 828/251-6526