Department Chair
Mary E. Ricciardi, Ph.D.

Mary E. Ricciardi, Ph.D., has been teaching foreign languages at MMA since 1984 and has headed the Foreign Language Department since 1985. She holds degrees in French and Italian from Indiana University at Bloomington, Indiana, and has taken courses in Spanish, French, and foreign language teaching methodology at the University of Missouri – Columbia, the University of Texas - Pan American, and the Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. Dr. Ricciardi teaches all levels of French and prepares her Cadets to participate in the National French Contest and the Rio Grande Valley French Competition. In 2004 she was chosen to participate in a summer seminar in Lyon, France, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, where she studied the Occupation, the Resistance and the rescue of Jewish children by French citizens during that period. The following summer she and her colleagues presented papers on their work in Lyon at the annual meeting of the American Association of Teachers of French. She is a past president and advisor to the AATF South Texas Chapter and in the summer of 2006 conducted a workshop in French Theatre for Teachers of French.

Rosa Vukmer

Rosa D. Vukmer born and raised in Cd. Juárez, Chih., México, to parents Jesus and Belem Flores.  She attended the University of Juarez majoring in Civil Engineering. Graduating from the University of Texas at Brownsville, Mrs. Vukmer received a teaching degree in Spanish with a minor in Psychology and intends to further her education by pursuing a Masters Degree.  She is a member of La Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica Sigma Delta Pi.

Before joining the MMA faculty, Mrs. Vukmer taught Spanish courses at local public and private high schools.  She is presently teaching Spanish I and Spanish II courses at MMA.  In her free time, Mrs. Vukmer enjoys reading Latin American Literature.

Ana Palacios

Ana Palacios holds B.A. (2005), and M.A. (2008) degrees in Spanish from the University of Texas Pan-American. She graduated Magna Cum Laude. She is a member of the Texas Foreign Language Association. She also is a member of La Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica Sigma Delta Pi and a member of Golden Key International Honor Society. When she was pursuing her master’s degree, she became a teaching assistant, teaching Spanish to monolingual and bilingual students at UTPA. She also has experience teaching AP Spanish courses at public schools. Mrs. Palacios is presently teaching Spanish II and Spanish III DE courses at MMA. She is married and has four beautiful children –Sally, Rudy Jr., Gaby and Sammy. She enjoys going to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. She also teaches Sunday school to children in fourth to sixth grade.

Cheryl Chen

Ms. Chen earned a Bachelor of Engineering in July 2005 in Harbin, China.  She began her teaching career at the Central Elementary School of Hengshan County, Hunan Province, China.  In 2007, she began a master degree program in applied linguistics at Beijing Normal University.  While in college, she worked as a part-time tour guide.  This experience enabled her to teach Chinese culture and gain valuable experience speaking English.

Ms. Chen teaches Chinese language and culture classes at MMA .  In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and photography.   She is currently writing about her experiences in America.