In Memoriam - Dr. Joaquin Villegas

The members of Multilingual Chicago remember and honor Dr. Joaquin Villegas who passed away on January 31, 2026. Dr. Joaquín Villegas graduated from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana with a Doctoral Degree in Education. Both his BA in History and MA in Educational Leadership were awarded by the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. He worked for more than 45 years at the elementary and secondary grade levels as well as two and four institutions of higher education. He was a Fulbright of South Africa 2010 and Jamaica 2016. Dr. Villegas retired as an Associate Professor Emeritus from Northeastern Illinois University after 16 years as faculty member in the Teacher Education Program and Coordinator of both graduate and undergraduate programs in bilingual/bicultural education. As a co-founder of St. Augustine College, he continued teaching United States History and Political Science in the School of Education. Dr. Villegas research agenda has concentrated in bilingual education, multicultural education, the seal of biliteracy and most recently on translanguaging. As a co-founder of Multilingual Chicago, he was committed to embracing, valuing, and enhancing our multilingual learners. May his legacy and impact on the bilingual community continue to be remembered!