Dr. Hiroko Hirada (Post-secondary category)
University of Alaska Anchorage
Please join us congratulating the 2015 AATJ Teacher Award recipient, Dr. Hiroko Harada of University of Alaska Anchorage. The AATJ Teacher Awards recognize outstanding teachers who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, advocacy, and leadership in Japanese education both locally and nationally. AATJ presented the awards to the winner at the AATJ Awards Luncheon during the ACTFL Annual Convention held in San Diego on Saturday, November 21.
Dr. Harada is a professor and coordinator of the Japanese program at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She has built a very strong and successful Japanese program, the second largest after Spanish. She works tirelessly not only for her students but also the Anchorage and Alaska community, organizing cultural events, co- founding Alaska Japanese Speech Contest and Alaska Association of Teachers of Japanese. Dr. Harada also established a memorial project to honor one of her students who was tragically killed in the Tohoku earthquake and Tsunami. She serves as Director of the Montgomery Dickson Center for Japanese Language and Culture, building ties across the Pacific.
