Richard Domenick Brecht

Dr. Brecht, Harvard M.A & Ph.D., is University of Maryland Professor Emeritus, co-director of the American Councils Research Center, & Co-Founder Jeenie™, a business providing language support and cultural coaching to ordinary people facing everyday communication problems around the world. Involved since its beginning in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences Language Education initiative and having drafted one of its briefing papers (“America’s Languages: Challenges and Promise, he is an active member of the “America’s Languages Initiative” Working Group since its establishment in 2017 & leads the building of the web-based “Guide to Exemplary Programs & Practices in U.S. Language Education,” funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. As an academic entrepreneur, he has been a prime in building and leading numerous academic organizations, including American Councils for International Education, the Center for Advanced Study of Language, the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, and the National Foreign Language Center. Dr. Brecht has testified multiple times before Congressional committees, made many academic presentations, and authored and edited numerous scholarly books, textbooks, manuals, articles and reviews on language policy, second language acquisition, and Slavic and Russian linguistics.