Management and Administration

Director

Paul has been the Director of the Language Learning Center since 1988, and is an Affiliate Faculty in the UW Linguistics Department. Before coming to the UW, he worked for the Federal Government, WICAT, and Boeing. He is active in developing digital media for language learning. He has also worked with Microsoft, Apple, Department of Defense, Interagency Language Roundtable, and other agencies to develop digital language learning materials. He has been Principal Investigator on many federal grants, including STARTALK, GenCyber, and Cyber Security. His wide range of interests is reflected in his membership in several professional organizations, including being a long-time member of the International Association for Language Learning Technologies (IALLT) since the MIT IALLT Conference and founding member of the Computer-Assisted Learning & Instruction Consortium (CALICO).

Some other professional organizations that he is an active member of:

• American Association for Artificial Intelligence
• Association for Computational Linguistics
• Cognitive Sciences Society
• Cognitive Sciences Society
• Northwest Translators and Interpreters Society
• Computational Linguistics Interest Group - University of Washington
• Translation and Interpreting Interest Group - University of Washington

Senior Computing Specialists

Natassia Stelmaszek is the Systems Administrator for the LLC and is in charge of several Windows and Linux servers which provide Moodle LMS services, streaming content and live TV streaming for students in five foreign languages. She also provides desktop support for faculty and staff who are using an assortment of Apple and PC desktop and laptop computers as well as networked printers, scanners and other electronic equipment.

She is also a Capricorn who enjoys long walks on the beach and quiet evenings in front of the fireplace.

Jamie Akiona is the latest addition to the LLC Senior Computer Specialist team and is a UW alum. Jamie has a background in IT consulting and has worked with various government institutions and businesses in the Seattle region. He currently provides desktop and server support for all the language departments and is working towards being a MS cloud administrator within virtualized hybrid infrastructures.

M is a veteran information technology professional who is dedicated to education and public service. With an aptitude for logic, their talent and skills are enhanced by degrees in engineering and science, then honed with over 14 years in enterprise environments. Their position is a hybrid of Sysadmin and Software Development Engineer.

Computer Support Technician

Judy is the Computer Support Technician for the LLC. She provides technical support, manages the computer labs and digitization of various language materials. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science in Angeles University, Philippines. Languages: Tagalog, English and Kapampangan dialect.

Assistant Director

Russell joined the LLC as an ASE in 2008 and continued in that position until just before he completed his doctorate in Linguistics from UW in 2016, at which point he joined the LLC in a full time professional staff capacity. He has almost a decade of experience at the LLC, including serving as an Academic Student Employee Supervisor, and before that working as an ASE for many years. Previous work before the LLC focused on video, graphics, web and publishing software (e.g., Adobe CC, HTML, CSS, PHP, JS). His academic interests are focused on Indigenous language vitalization, Computer Assisted Language Learning, and language attitudes in relation to language policy. Languages: English, Korean and Latin.

Administrative Assistant

Kathryn contributes to the LLC as the keeper of the budgets, keys, and general office operations. Prior to joining the LLC, they worked in roles that supported the academic pursuits and the mental and emotional wellbeing of young people in South Seattle.

They earned a Master of Social Work from the University of Washington in 2020.

Volunteer SA Tech Advisor

Marlin Eller was a programmer who was a manager and a software developer at Microsoft Corporation from 1982-1995, and he was development lead for GDI (subsystem of Windows 1.0) and also for Pen Windows. He was also a co-founder and the CEO of Sunhawk Digital Music LLC. He was also the chairman of the game development company called Reflexive Entertainment.

He received his Bachelor of Art in Mathematics from Whitman College in 1974. He then went on for his Master of Science in Mathematics from the University of Washington.