CAL is saddened by the passing of our valued colleague and friend, Richard Ruiz (University of Arizona). His vision and commitment to language learning and equity were unequalled and he will be missed by all those whose lives he touched.

Richard Ruiz was recognized internationally for his research and scholarship in language planning and policy development. His three orientations for language planning (Orientations in Language Planning, 1984) have become part of the every day discourse within the field of LPP.

He was a consultant to the governments of Mexico, Australia, Guatemala, Bolivia, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Netherlands Antilles (Aruba and Curaçao), Israel, South Africa, and native communities in the United States and Canada. He was editor of the Bilingual Research Journal for three years, and served on the editorial boards of Urban Education, Teaching Education, Journal of Teacher Education, and the Review of Educational Research. He was Chair of the Standing Committee on the Role and Status of Minorities in Educational Research and Development and Chair of the Social Justice Action Committee of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), a member of the English as a New Language Standards Committee of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards, member of the Minorities, Governance and Special Interest Group Task Forces for AERA and the Multicultural Education Committee of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, and a panelist on the Review Board for the National Assessment of Title I. He was a member of the Stanford Working Group on the Education of Language Minority Students, and was recognized for his expertise in educational policy studies by being named to the Clinton-Gore Education Transition Team. He served on the National Planning Committee for the Brown Plus 50 Conference, the Executive Board of the National Latino Education Research Agenda and as Chair of the Publications Committee of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. In 2000 he was selected as a Distinguished Visiting Professor by the Mexican Academy of Science. In June 2001 he was appointed Director of Social Justice of the American Educational Research Association. In 2004, he was selected as the Maria Urquides Laureate in the College of Education for his work in the benefit of children.