Dr. Ana Gil
Northeastern Illinois University, Illinois, USA
Ana Gil-Garcia holds a Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from Western Michigan University , a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from University of Tennessee , a Specialist Degree in Middle School Curriculum conferred by the Organization of American States and the Pedagogical University of Venezuela, and a Bachelor's degree from the Pedagogical University of Venezuela. She has additional training in the areas of reading across content areas and teaching strategies, and teaching in cultural and language diverse classrooms. Dr. Gil-Garcia is an Associate Professor at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago , teaching graduate courses in the areas of educational leadership, research in educational leadership, school supervision, comparative education, cultural pluralism, and curriculum development. She has been involved in the field of education for 30 years. Most of Dr. Gil-Garcia's academic and administrative careers have been in Caracas , Venezuela . Prior to joining NEIU in 1996, Dr. Gil-Garcia accumulated her academic and administrative experiences from classroom teaching (middle and high school), Acting Superintendent, Acting College Department Chair, and Assistant to University Provost of Academic Affairs.
Dr. Gil-Garcia, three times a Fulbright scholar (1987, 2004, and 2003-2008), has served on the boards of both national and international organizations, and has served as a consultant to numerous local, national, and international groups, school districts, professional associations, and corporations. She received in 1999 the Faculty Excellence Award for Service, the Faculty Excellence Award for Research (2000), and the Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching (2001) granted by Northeastern Illinois University . From 1996 to 2001, she was the Senior Consultant for the Strategic Teaching and Reading Project of the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL); a primary advisor for Chicago Public Schools; and a solicited consultant for well-known publishing companies.
Dr. Gil-Garcia bases her views of education on the acknowledgment of every child as a unique cultural entity able to be transformed and molded by the infusion of high expectations, individual respect, love, and understanding. An ardent believer of the human side of teaching, she champions personal growth, cultural awareness and renewal as means of changing educational organizations.
Dr. Gil-Garcia has published three books and many articles in international and national journals; delivered numerous papers nationally and internationally, including invited presentations in Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Peru, Panama, Argentina, France, England, Hungary, Italy, Czeck Republic, Ireland and Venezuela. She has been cited in several dissertations and books. Having received numerous merit awards, she considers her greatest honor to have been awarded the Fulbright US. Scholar 2004 to go back after 10 years to her native country Venezuela to research on educational leadership and reading comprehension strategies at 20 economically and socially deprived high schools. As an outcome of this research, she trained 750 high school teachers, 35 school principals, and 140 team members and received much recognition for her work in the national media.
