Bio

Dr. Ángel Ruiz Blanco received his Ph.D. in Spanish linguistics with an emphasis in secondlanguage acquisition and his masters degree in Spanish linguistics from the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of California, Davis. Additionally, he is a licensed foreign attorney and remains active to practice law in Spain. Dr. Ruiz Blanco received his law degree with an emphasis in public law from the University of Seville, Spain. In addition, he has completed the official examiner certification for all levels of the Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera (DELE), level A1 escolar + A2/B1 escolar, A1-A2, B1-B2 and C1-C2 levels. This certificate issued by the Spanish Instituto Cervantes on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science makes him an official examiner for the DELE exams.

In the public sector, before attaining his doctorate, he researched, drafted, developed, and coordinated bilingual programs that opened the door of the American legal system to the Hispanic community in Contra Costa County (California). Furthermore, he taught legal Spanish to the Superior Court of California for five years and to the Contra Costa County Bar Association (CCCBA).

Currently, at San José State University (SJSU), Dr. Ángel Ruiz Blanco serves as an Assistant Professor for Translation and Interpretation in the Department of Word Languages. Before coming to SJSU, Dr. Ruiz Blanco taught at the University of California, San Diego; Boston College; University of Arkansas; Whitman College; and the University of California, Davis.

In Spanish applied linguistics, Dr. Ruiz Blanco’s research and teaching foci are translation and interpretation studies, language for specific purposes, Spanish for heritage speakers, second language acquisition, and service learning. One of his current professional goals is developing Spanish for the professions programs with an integrated service-learning component.