International Interpreter Group Names
Cornelia Brown as Linguist of Year

UTICA/SYRACUSE, Jan. 5, 2011 -- The members of Inttranet, an international  network of professional interpreters and translators, have elected Dr. Cornelia Brown as their Linguist of the Year for 2010 for her "Interpreting for Peace" initiative. Brown is executive director of the not-for-profit association, MAMI Community Interpreters of Utica and Syracuse.

The award was announced Jan. 3 in Rouen, France, where Inttranet is headquarterd, and comes with an $860 prize to be donated to an international charity of her choice.

The Linguist of the Year Award recognizes the struggle - and sometimes the personal sacrifice - of linguists who have been the focus for media attention during the past year, and have increased public awareness of the importance of linguists and languages as a result, according to the organization's inttranews.net website.

As a Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace, Brown spent last summer in “Interpreting for Peace” training at Middlebury College Language Schools in Vermont. She was selected as a working professional promoting conflict resolution; specifically, leading an initiative to train court interpreters across Central New York. Under her guidance, MAMI has been developing a two-part court interpreting course to prepare interpreters for state exams and for working in New York State courts. "Interpreting for Peace" involves finding ways to resolve cultural barriers that threaten due process in family-related court issues, domestic violence, child abuse and juvenile delinquency.

Her "interpreting for Peace" training was supported by a $2,500 grant from the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties Inc. and a $1,000 grant from the Gorman Foundation of Sherrill.

Fluent in Russian, Brown is a founding member of the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care and a long-time member of the council's Outreach Committee.

Other nominees for Inttranet Linguist of Year included: the newly established U.S. National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters, pre-Columbian America and Mayan scholar Dennis Tedlock, Canadian Afghan interpreter Ahmadshah Malgarai, Talmud translator Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, Linguistic Systems Inc. of Massachusetts, "Why Translation Matters" author Edith Grossman, the REACH112 telephone project for disabled and elderly in Great Britain, Mashpee Wampanoag linguist Jessie Little Doe Baird, and Cornell University elephant vocalization researchers.

With offices in Utica and Syracuse, MAMI provides interpreting and translating for health, legal and community agencies. MAMI also offers ESL (English as second language) classes in specialty areas and culturally mediated health seminars for limited-English populations.

Media Contact: Mary T. Stronach, 315-796-9284, mstronach @ mamiinterpreters.org