Spanish Faculty

Denise L. Hatcher, Ed.D.
Associate Professor of Spanish
Office: 630-844-7827
Fax: 630-844-5242
E-mail: dhatcher@aurora.edu

During the twelve years that Dr. Hatcher has taught at AU she has designed new Spanish courses thus increasing the level and variety of Spanish and leading to  minor and major areas of study. To extend student learning experiences beyond the classroom, she has developed translation projects for local elementary schools and sponsors a Spanish Club at Freeman Elementary School.  In addition to the work involved in leading the Spanish program, Dr. Hatcher also serves on the Academic Standards Committee, the university senate, and is the advisor for Circle K and Alpha Kappa Alpha at Aurora University.   She has spent the last three May-sessions in Playa del Carmen, Mexico with Aurora University students who have expressed an interest and willingness to live abroad for a three week period. She co-sponsored a trip to Barcelona in June of 2008.

Dr. Hatcher completed her doctorate in Adult and Higher Education with concentrations in Spanish linguistics and second language acquisition at Northern Illinois University in 2003. She earned her Master’s in Spanish: Language and Literature in 1996.  Her bachelor’s degree, earned with honors from Northern Illinois University, incorporated a double major: Spanish and secondary education with a minor area of study in English. Before arriving at Aurora University, Dr. Hatcher taught Spanish at Wheaton Warrenville South High School, bilingual education at Eisenhower High School, English as a second language at Waubonsee Community College, and English as a foreign language at Springfield: Instituto de Idiomas in Mexico City, Mexico.  She is currently working on publishing her first book, Conversa Conmigo: A Conversational Approach to Learning Spanish.

Elizabeth O'Donnell
Instructor of Spanish

Elizabeth O’Donnell is an Adjunct Instructor of Spanish at Aurora University. She teaches basic and intermediate Spanish courses at AU.

Ms. O’Donnell earned her Master of Science in Education with a concentration in Spanish from Northern Illinois University. Additional graduate study includes coursework at the Institute of Spanish Studies in Valencia, Spain.  Graduating with honors, O’Donnell received her Bachelor of Arts from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN. with a double major in Spanish and Art. She also spent a year of undergraduate study at the University of Salamanca, Spain.

Before arriving at Aurora University, Ms. O’Donnell taught Spanish at Aurora Central Catholic High School, and English as a second language at Waubonsee Community College. She designed and taught the Spanish curriculum at Batavia Middle School. At Holy Angels School in Aurora, she created and facilitated after-school Spanish enrichment classes.  Currently, she is on staff at Waubonsee Community College as a Spanish instructor, and trainer for Spanish in the workplace.

Carlos Martinez
Instructor of Spanish

Carlos Martinez is a instructor at Aurora University, where he teaches Elementary Spanish. He is also a instructor at College of DuPage’s Business and Professional Institute (BPI), and at Waubonsee Community College, and is a Hispanic Marketing Consultant.

Prior to joining Aurora University, Mr. Martinez held various management, teaching, research and sales positions in diverse fields, including education, marketing, journalism, law, and finance at Robert F. Coleman & Associates, the Department of Agriculture, Fifth Third Bank, as well as at Joliet Junior College and Reflejos Bilingual Journal. In addition, Mr. Martinez  served on the Board of Directors of the West DuPage Community Resource Center, and is a past president of the Political Union at the University of Chicago, as well as a past member of the Committee on International Affairs and Public Policy, also at the University of Chicago.

Jane Willard
Adjunct Instructor of Spanish

Ms. Willard earned her Masters of Arts in Spanish Literature at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.  As a part of this program, she studied in Madrid at the University of Madrid.  Previously, as an undergraduate in Spanish Education at Illinois State university, Ms. Willard traveled to Bogota, Colombia on a volunteer Y.M.C.A. project that benefited orphaned children from that capital city.  She has also traveled widely throughout Europe, Mexico, Egypt and China.