JALT Board of Directors

President
Dawn Lucovich
Affiliation: 長野県立大学 / The University of Nagano
Dawn Lucovich is an American who was born in South Korea, and has lived and worked in the US, UK, Korea, and Japan. She is currently an Assistant Professor at The University of Nagano. As a Global Management faculty member at a brand-new university, she is committed to furthering international understanding and facilitating intercultural communication. She organizes the Global Language Table, a program which connects international visitors and residents of Japan with university students in Nagano.
Her research interests include assessment, linguistic landscapes, and discourse communities. She is highly interested in how professional organizations can collaborate together for the benefit of their members, creating accessible and inclusive professional spaces, and the mentoring and orientation of new and early-career professionals.
Twitter: @Nagano_L
JALT Experience
長野支部, 会長 / Nagano JALT President (2019-2020)
東京支部 理事 / Tokyo JALT Immediate Past President/Chairwoman (2018-2019)
東京支部, 会長 / Tokyo JALT President (2016-2018)
東京支部, 副会長 & リサーチ予算オフィサー / Tokyo JALT Vice President & Research Officer
語彙学習研究部会(VOCAB) リサーチ予算オフィサー / VOCAB SIG, Grants Officer
Writers’ Peer Support Group (PSG), Peer Reader & External Coordinator
Post-Conference Publication (PCP), Reviewer
International Conference, Reviewer
PanSIG, Reviewer
The Language Teacher, Proofreader
Vice President
Robert Chartrand
Affiliation: Kurume University
Robert is originally from Montreal, Canada. After working in Vancouver for a year, he decided to travel to Japan to see what it was like to live in this beautiful country. He was offered a full-time job teaching English and French at Berlitz School in Fukuoka and he has been living here since 1983.
He has taught English at language schools, companies, junior and senior high schools, junior colleges, and universities. He has enjoyed taking students on English study trips to Canada, Australia and New Zealand. He received an MAT in ESOL from SIT in Vermont, and a PhD from the Kyushu Institute of Technology. He has also recently completed a one-year sabbatical at the University of Birmingham, UK, where he published a book on corpus linguistics.
He is interested in doing research in technology for language learning and has been an active member in JALT for many years. He is a Professor at the Institute of Foreign Language Education, Kurume University, in Fukuoka Prefecture.
JALT Experience
JALT Director of Treasury
CALL SIG – Coordinator, Proceedings Editor, Treasurer and Conference Chair
PanSIG Conference – Proceedings Editor and Conference Administrator
Director of Membership
Melodie Cook
Affiliation: 新潟県立大学 / The University of Niigata Prefecture
Melodie Cook is a Canadian (eh?) and has worked at the tertiary level in both Japan and Canada. She is currently a Professor at The University of Niigata Prefecture and a writer, editor, and series editor for Candlin & Mynard Publishers. In addition to her work duties, she is an adoption and fostering advocate for the foreign community in Japan.
Her research interests include teacher education, intercultural families and education, high-stakes testing in Japan, and barrier-free learning in Japan.
JALT Experience
新潟支部, 会長 / Niigata JALT President (2015-2016)
新潟支部 / Niigata JALT Program Chair (2013-2020)
長崎支部　/ Nagasaki JALT Program Chair (2005-2009)
Post-Conference Publication (PCP), Content Editor
JALT Journal Editor
JALT Journal Associate Editor
Director of Program
Wayne Malcolm
Affiliation: Fukui University of Technology
In 2002 Wayne Malcolm came to Japan with a timeline of three years. He is still here soaking up Japanese culture and expanding his horizons through travel, education, and family life. In 2007 he and his wife married, then in 2010 had a daughter. The power trio began in Akita, eventually moving to Fukui where they currently live. Wayne works at Fukui University of Technology.
Growing up on the east coast of the United States, Wayne lived in Cornwall, NY then went to undergraduate school at Syracuse University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. After moving to Washington, DC and living there for five years he decided to make the jump to Japan as an English language teacher for NOVA language school.
Eventually, the gig at NOVA ended and Wayne and his wife decided to open their own school under the name AKTIA. Along with teaching part time at Akita International University, Akita University, and Meitokukan High School Adult Culture School, life was quite busy. During this time he obtained a Master of Management – International from University of Phoenix Online.
In 2012, the decision was made to close up shop in Akita and move to Fukui in order to work full-time at University of Fukui. During this time Wayne was in the middle of a Doctorate of Education program focused on educational leadership with a specialization in curriculum and instruction. In 2018 his degree was successfully completed along with the oral defense of his dissertation study. This focused on study abroad and the value companies placed on study abroad when recruiting globally competent talent.
Since becoming a member in 2008, JALT has played an important role in Wayne’s life in Japan, both professionally and personally. Through JALT Wayne has been able to experience and practice leadership and followership, as well as develop as a teacher, researcher, writer, and presenter. In 2008 he became a member of the Akita Chapter. In time he would become the president of the Akita Chapter, and an active member of the national JALT community. After moving to Fukui he continued being active as a member of the Fukui JALT chapter where he held the position of program chair. From 2019 he took on the position of Fukui-JALT treasurer. He is also active with the Critical Thinking and Study Abroad SIGs.
Through the encouragement of the late Kevin Cleary, Wayne led a small team who drafted the JALT mission statement. He also held the appointed national officer position of Business Manager where he was able to work closely with all facets of the membership community, and in particular the Associate Members. Not resting in exercising his commitment to JALT, Wayne embarked on becoming a member of the Board of Directors.
In 2019 he was appointed Director of Program, and is looking forward to an engaging, challenging and rewarding experience because through JALT he has been able to assist in the professional development of so many excellent educators while being able to forge valuable friendships that will last and define his lifetime.
Director of Public Relations
William Pellowe
Affiliation: Kindai University
William (“Bill”) Pellowe joined JALT when he came to Japan in 1990. He was the program chair of Fukuoka JALT in 1995 to 1997, and has served twice as the chapter president (1998 – 2002, and 2010-2019). He is a member of a number of JALT’s SIGs, including CALL, CUE, and TEVAL. He has served on the abstract vetting committee for both the JALT Annual International Conference and the JALT PanSIG Conference. He runs the TEVAL SIG site and the PanSIG conference website. He is currently an Associate Professor at Kindai University’s campus in Iizuka City, where he has worked since 2000.
Director of Records
Kenn Gale
Affiliation: No Borders International School
Kenn, originally from Los Angeles, California, currently lives in Nagoya, Japan, with his wife and young daughter. His educational career started off working for Apollo Group and various educational institutes and colleges in the United States. In 2007, He left California to travel for several years. After that, he settled down in Southeast Asia and worked for the Ministry of Education of Thailand. He spent several years of working for the MOE and opening up schools in Thailand. During that period he also assisted in several joint ventures with Singapore, Vietnam and China. Currently, Kenn is the Director of Operations/Principal of 5 international kindergartens in Aichi with over 100 staff and 600 students. He is actively involved in the ACCJ and several other community-based organizations.
Kenn has been a member of JALT for several years. He was actively involved in the Teaching Younger Learners SIG for two years as the SIG Coordinator. He truly loves working with young learners and is passionate about the field. He is a firm believer in JALT and what it aims to accomplish and the platform which it provides for teachers in Japan. He brings great enthusiasm, a fresh perspective and organization management skills to the position of Director of Records and to the organization.
Director of Treasury
Michael Mielke
Affiliation: 札幌大学 / Sapporo University
Michael first came to Japan in 1991 to work for the eikaiwa school GEOS in Akita City. In 1993 he moved to Sapporo and from 1995 worked as teacher trainer and head office staff for GEOS until 1999. From 1999 Michael joined Little Tree English School which was started by former colleagues, and is now in its 3rd decade of business. In 2018, after many years of part-time university work, Michael became an assistant professor at Sapporo University. Michael’s research areas include materials design, student motivation and language acquisition.
JALT Experience
JALT National Officer: FSC Chair January, 2019- December, 2020
JALT National Officer: Chapter Treasurer Liaison January, 2017- December, 2019
JALT Hokkaido Chapter Treasurer 2008 – December 2020
JALT Hokkaido Conference Coordinator and/or Conference Program Chair 2006 – December, 2020.
Auditor
Steve Brown
Description of the JALT BOD Positions