In 2019, Larry Torres retired from a 43-year career as an educator, most recently as Associate Professor of foreign languages and cultures at the University of New Mexico – Taos. In 1993 Walt Disney, at the America Salutes its Teachers Program, named him outstanding national Foreign Language teacher of the year. He has received numerous honors and awards and has appeared in several magazines. He is a popular speaker in the field of cultural sensitivity and teacher training, as well as a speaker on global education. He is a published author, columnist, radio personality and an actor and poet specializing in language code switching.
Larry Torres is a native or Arroyo Seco, New Mexico, where he was born in 1954. He has been a teacher of Spanish, Russian, French, English, Latin and Bilingual Education for the past 30 years. He currently teaches at UNM- Taos, where he is a professor of foreign languages, American studies, and linguistics.
Mr. Torres is internationally recognized as both a speaker and a presenter in the field of Global Education in foreign language teaching. He is an actor with the New Mexico Endowment for the Humanities' Chautauqua Program. He has successfully completed many years of impersonating Jean-Baptiste Lamy, the first Archbishop of Santa Fe, throughout the Southwest. He has also portrayed the persona or conquistador, Don Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and/or Civil Rights Activist, Reyes Lopez Tijerina.
Mr. Torres is a writer, whose work on New Mexico Hispanic culture has touched thousands by way of the Spanish page in the El Crepusculo or in the weekly publication, The Taos News, and also by way of his English column, Aqui en Los Valles. His first 100 essays written in Spanish were compiled into the book released through El Crepusculo Inc. titled, "Yo Seigo De Taosi." The book was used as a text to teach Spanish at the University of New Mexico. Recently he published the bilingual books: "Los Cocos Y La Coconas: the Bogey Creatures or the Hispanic Southwest" and "Los Matachines Desenmascarados: An historical interpretation of the ancient dance-drama", "Las Cuatro Apariciones de Guadalupe", "Las Posadas," and "Los Moros y Los Cristianos." His collected works were just released from the University of New Mexico Press. His current book titled, "Six Nuevo Mexicano Folk Dramas for the Advent Season" is in bookstores everywhere.
After receiving many local, regional, and state honors, Mr. Torres was brought to national prominence in 1992, when the Walt Disney Corporation singled him out as the National Outstanding Foreign Language Teacher of the Year at the Annual Disney Salutes the American Teacher Awards program in Los Angeles, California. In 1993, Mr. Torres won the National Educator Award sponsored by the Milken Family Foundation. He was given a check for $25,000 in recognition of his teaching excellence. That same year, he was also named the Outstanding Young New Mexican for the State. He received a grant for $25,000 from the American Federal Government to explore innovative ways of teaching Russian.
He has appeared in Taos Magazine, Vista Magazine, Spirit Magazine, the Santa Fean, La Herencia Magazine, Mirage Magazine, and in the New Mexico Magazine. Mr. Torres has also received commendations from the State Department of Education, the 41st Legislature of the State of New Mexico, and from Ambassadors Bogosian and Pierce. Larry Torres was a recipient of New Mexico's first Golden Apple Award, in which he received a fully-paid sabbatical for the fall of 1996. He has been inducted into Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society for Excellence in teaching and has also received the Excellence in Teaching Award sponsored by the Southwest Coalition of Language Teachers.
Mr. Torres was given the Camino Real Award as one of 15 Outstanding New Mexicans for 1996. In 1998 his radio talk show, Cafecito y Cultura, won first place for best public service from the Associated Press, and in 1999 his radio show, Paso a Paso, won first place for best documentary on the airwaves, also from the Associated Press of New Mexico. He is now working on a column titled, Habla Usted Spamglish?
In 2003, Larry Torres received a grant through the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to work with New Mexico State University on development material to aid in the teaching of first-generation Hispanic students. The grant's focus is on cultural sensitivity training and enhancement.
