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.

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.

Bing Li

Mrs. Li teaches Chinese language and culture classes at MMA . 

Mrs. Li is  from Beijing, China. She was born in northeast China and recieved her Bachelor’s degree at Mudanjiang  Normal  College in 2003. Her major was English.  After graduation, she worked in Beijing as a high school English teacher for six years. In 2008, she  was admitted to Beijing Normal University  and studied for her Master’s Degree in Chinese as a second language.  Married in 2004, her husband is also a teacher in Beijing. He holds a Master Degree in Philosophy. They have a lovely son, Niannian, who was born on the day of thier third wedding anniversary. Niannian means 'to remember.'