Alma Flor Ada
| Alma Flor Ada | |
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| Born | Alma Flor Ada Lafuente 3 January 1938 Camagüey, Cuba |
| Occupation | Writer, Educator, University Professor |
| Nationality | born Cuban, USA citizen |
| Genre | poetry, children's literature, adult novels, memoirs, pedagogy, educational materials |
| Subject | literature, language, education |
| Literary movement | critical pedagogy, transformative education |
| Notable works | My Name is María Isabel, Gathering the Sun, Yes! We are Latinos, A Magical Encounter, Authors in the Classroom |
| Website | |
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Alma Flor Ada (born January 3, 1938 in Camagüey, Cuba) is an award-winning Cuban-American author of children’s books, poetry, and novels. A Professor Emerita at the University of San Francisco, Dr. Ada is recognized for her work promoting bilingual and multicultural education in the United States.
Alma Flor Ada was born in Camagüey, Cuba on January 3, 1938 to Modesto Ada Rey and Alma Lafuente. She grew up in La Quinta Simoni, a house owned by the family of Cuban revolutionary Ignacio Agramonte. Born into a family of storytellers, poets, and educators, she grew up hearing traditional tales re-told by her grandmother, father, and uncle. At the age of 15, she traded a quinceañera party for summer school in the United States, thus beginning her life as a bilingual person. After completing high school in Cuba, she earned a scholarship to attend Loretto Heights College. There she first encountered discrimination against Mexican-Americans, a discovery inspirational to her diversity appreciation efforts. After a year at Barry College in Miami, she earned a Diploma de Estudios Hispanos with an Excellency Award at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She completed her PhD at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholars Exchange Grant and appointed a Radcliffe Institute scholar at Harvard University and prepared her dissertation for publication, Pedro Salinas: El diálogo creador. In 1970, she and her four children relocated permanently to the United States. She currently resides in Marin County, California and has 9 grandchildren. Ada credits her children as a powerful influence in her writing, stating, "One of my greatest joys is that my daughter collaborates with me". Recently, Ada co-authored two books with her youngest son, Gabriel Zubizarreta.
Dr. Ada began her teaching career in Lima, Peru where she taught at the Abraham Lincoln Bilingual School and the Alexander von Humboldt Trilingual School. In the United States, she was an associate professor at Emory University, a professor at Mercy College of Detroit, and the University of San Francisco where she retired as a Professor Emerita. At the University of San Francisco, she directed 160 dissertations in the field of International Multicultural Education. She was a visiting professor at the University of Texas, El Paso, St. Thomas University in Houston, The University of Guam,Associated Colleges of the Midwest, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, and Fundación José Ortega y Gasset, Madrid, and an author in residence at the University of Texas, El Paso and UC Davis. A renowned speaker at national and international conferences, she has shared her educational vision. She delivered the keynote speech, "Beyond Biliteracy", at the NABE 2014 conference in San Diego, where she was awarded the Mexican Government's Ohtli award for her lifetime contributions to the advancement of Mexican communities abroad through numerous projects such as the Pajaro Valley Literacy Project. In 2008, the California Association of Bilingual Educators (CABE) established "The Alma Flor Ada Teachership Award" given annually in her honor.
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