Winter 2024 Commencement Speakers

Photograph of Jason Martel

The Winter Commencement speaker is Professor Jason Martel, TESOL/TFL Program Chair. He is the recipient of this year’s Faculty Excellence Award. 

A native of southeastern Massachusetts, Jason Martel began his career as a secondary school French teacher. He has extensive experience in the Middlebury ecology, having worked for the Middlebury School of French, the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy, and the Middlebury Institute. At the Institute, he teaches courses in language pedagogy, language assessment, language curriculum design, second language acquisition, French language, and English language, and maintains an active research agenda in these domains.

From 2014 to 2019, Jason served as associate director of the Institute’s Summer Intensive Language Program (SILP). His principal duties included providing professional development for faculty members and setting a pedagogical vision for the program. His teaching has been enriched very much by this experience, notably in that the program served as a laboratory setting for his thinking about language pedagogy.

Jason also participates in a variety of professional activities related to language education. He is an active member of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) and the American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). He recently served as Chair of ACTFL’s Teacher Development Special Interest Group and won the organization’s Excellence in Teacher Development Award. In addition, he consults around the country in the areas of foreign language curriculum design, pedagogy, and assessment.

Headshot of Anthony Dai with his hands folded in front of him sitting in a red chair
Anthony Dai, MANPTS ‘24

The student speaker is Anthony Dai. Anthony will graduate with a Master of Arts in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies. Born in the United States and raised in China, Anthony brings a unique multicultural perspective to his dedication to nonproliferation studies. His passion for bridging technical expertise and policy has guided an impressive academic and professional journey.

Anthony holds a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from UC Berkeley and a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where he graduated magna cum laude. He has also collaborated with global organizations, including his role as a CTBTO Research Fellow, a Freeman Foundation Awardee at Nagasaki University’s Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, and a Keepin Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In his research, he channels the understanding of the latest engineering technology and nuclear strategy into cutting-edge projects on treaty verification, seismic monitoring, and nuclear disarmament policy. At the Middlebury Institute, Anthony served as a graduate research assistant at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, where he advocated nonproliferation and disarmament education, collaborating on innovative projects such as the Seismically Cued Antineutrino Detector initiative and research on DPRK armament. Fluent in English and Chinese, he combines his technical acumen with cultural fluency to drive meaningful impact in international security.

A dedicated community member and advocate for cultural enrichment, Anthony founded culinary clubs at both MIIS and RPI to bring people together through food. He conceptualized and coordinated the international food fair, resulting in wide participation by the entire MIIS campus. As he moves into the next chapter of his career, Anthony reflects on the collaborative spirit of MIIS and looks forward to a career dedicated to making the world a safer and more secure place by infusing the pragmatic solutions inspired by his interdisciplinary background.