Dear COEHD,

We are saddened to learn that yesterday, September 1, 2017, Dr. Ernesto M. Bernal passed away at the age of 79 from Parkinson's Disease.  Dr. Bernal was a former faculty member at UTSA, and husband of Dr. Carmen Tafolla (current BBL Professor of Transformative Children's Literature).

Dr. Bernal was key in developing the BBL Program, and authored the first scholarly research on the Latino gifted child in the US.  A prolific scholar and innovator in the fields of Bilingual Education, Gifted Education, and Analysis of Test Bias, he went against the ethnocentric zeitgeist of the 1960s and 70s, which focused on "the culturally-deprived Latino child"; he spent a lifetime changing this deficit perception and published extensively on the gifted Latino child.

A former Dean of Education at UT Pan American (now UTRGV), Dr. Bernal, along with his wife, Dr. Tafolla, established a bilingual school for the gifted and creative child.  Dr. Bernal's early years at UTSA were transformative for many students; Dr. Bernal was a contemporary of the now-famous Dr. Tomas Rivera, who also served on UTSA faculty and administration.

Please help me wish Carmen and her family peace and strength during this difficult time.

Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D.
I’m first-gen!

Professor & Chair

UTSA • Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies
patricia.sanchez@utsa.edu • 210.458.4426

Co-Director  • PIVOT for Academic Success
Lead Editor  •  AMAE Journal