Martha G. Abbott

    Marty Abbott’s career began in Fairfax County Public Schools (VA) where she was a language teacher, foreign language coordinator, and Director of High School Instruction. She has served on national committees to develop student standards, beginning teacher standards, and performance assessments in world languages. She was President of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) in 2003 and became its Director of Education in 2004 and Executive Director in 2011 serving in that capacity until 2018. Under her leadership, ACTFL created the Center for Assessment, Research and Development and launched the public awareness campaign, Lead with Languages. She recently served as a commissioner for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences national report America’s Languages: Investing in Language Education in the 21 st Century and in 2016 was appointed by President Obama to serve a four-year term on the National Security Education Board. Marty was appointed to the University of Mary Washington Board of Visitors by Virginia Governor Ralph Northam where
    she is serving a four-year term until 2022. She holds her B.A. degree in Spanish with a minor in Latin from the University of Mary Washington and a Master’s Degree in Spanish Linguistics from Georgetown University.