The University of Pittsburgh Announces Recipient of the 2008 Eduardo Lozano Memorial Dissertation Prize

PITTSBURGH-Ellen Walsh, who earned her PhD at the University of Pittsburgh in April 2008, is the recipient of the 2008 Eduardo Lozano Memorial Dissertation Prize. The prize was created to honor the life and work of the late Eduardo Lozano, who developed and directed the Latin American collection at Hillman Library from 1967 until he passed away in 2006. The collection is one of the most outstanding of its kind.

Walsh was nominated by Reid Andrews, Distinguished Professor of History, and Alejandro de la Fuente, associate professor of history, for her dissertation "'Advancing the Kingdom': Missionaries and Americanization in Puerto Rico, 1898-1930s."

The prize, which includes a cash award of $1,250, is funded by annual contributions from Pitt's Center for Latin American Studies, the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures, and donations to the Eduardo Lozano Memorial Dissertation Prize Fund. The prize is awarded annually for the best doctoral dissertation at Pitt on a topic related to Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latin American communities in other countries.

Walsh, who received a PhD in history, received a bachelor's degree in Latin American Studies from Mount Holyoke College in 1996 (magna cum laude) and a master's degree from Pitt in 2000. She currently serves as an assistant professor of history at Gannon University.

A bound copy of the winning dissertation will be on display in the Latin American Reading Room of Hillman Library. The room, inaugurated in September 2002, represents the fulfillment of Lozano's aspiration for a special place where people interested in Latin America could meet and "exchange ideas and thoughts."

Lozano was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1925; in addition to being a distinguished librarian, he was a renowned painter and poet.

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10/29/08/tmw