Dedicated to
Cristina 
Berdichevsky

Dr. Cristina Berdichevsky was a professor of French and Spanish at Gallaudet University for nearly 20 years.

On Thursday, September 4, 2014, she passed away after a three-year battle with cancer.  

Dr. Cristina Berdichevsky can be called Mrs. Berdichevsky, Cristi, or Birdi.  She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion was human rights. She founded International Deaf Partnerships (IDP), an organization that recruits volunteers to work in deaf schools and summer camps in various deaf communities, such as Haiti, Guatemala, and Cameroon. She also developed awareness of learning disabilities on Gallaudet's campus.

I met Cristina Berdichevsky in the early 1990s when I was about 20 years old.  I had trouble learning Spanish, and I was told to take her course.  She knew little about the Deaf community or American Sign Language at that time, but she learned fast. She noticed some of her students were having trouble learning French or Spanish, as I did.  I first met her in the classroom and got to know her over the next 20 years. It was like I grew up with her at Gallaudet.  I would visit her office when I had a problem or catch up with the news.  She had much love for her students, made sure everyone had a good education, and always pushed us not just to learn but act. I helped plan and coordinate her conference called “BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN RESEARCH AND PRACTICE IN THE FIELDS OF LEARNING DISABILITIES AND DEAFNESS.”
 
People, including myself, who knew her, will never forget her for making a difference in our lives. Her legacy and passions will carry our organization's vision and mission in the future.