Lois P Mignone

Advisory Council Member

Lois Pontillo Mignone, born and raised in Bayonne, NJ, graduated cum laude from the College of St. Elizabeth and received an MA from Rutgers University. She was awarded a PhD in Foreign Language Education with distinction from Stony Brook University.

Dr. Mignone taught for 16 years at the State University of NY at Farmingdale, where she held the rank of Professor of Italian and Spanish and served for eleven years as the Chairperson of the Modern Languages Department. During her tenure at SUNY Farmingdale, Dr. Mignone was recognized for her teaching, her service to the University and to her profession, and for her scholarship. In 1995 she received the prestigious State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching.

In the Fall 2000 Dr. Mignone moved to Suffolk County Community College as Academic Chairperson of the Foreign Language/ESL Department at the Ammerman Campus and as the college wide Coordinator of all Foreign Language Programs for the three SCCC campuses.

Throughout her career Dr. Mignone has given numerous presentations, lectures and workshops on the subject of foreign language pedagogy to local and state groups and at national conferences. She was a member of the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers, the Long Island Language Teachers, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Italian Studies Association, and was a charter member of the American Italian Educators Association. Dr. Mignone, a long term member of the Long Island Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Italian, served as President for two terms and presently is a member of the Advisory Council. On a national level Dr. Mignone served for two terms as the New York State Representative to the AATI National Executive Board and served for ten years as the AATI National Delegate to the annual Assembly of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

In 1998 the New York State Grand Lodge Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America awarded Dr. Mignone the Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Award, which honors "outstanding Italian American women who hold a doctorate and have achieved recognition for scholarship, for professional achievement in education and for their community service." Dr. Mignone presently serves as Statewide Chairperson of the Cornaro award. In 2000 the OSDIA Fr. John Papallo Lodge No, 2684 honored Dr. Mignone as its Educator of the Year and in 2005 the Association of Italian American Educators acknowledged Dr. Mignone with its AIAE School Administration Award.