Joe Sheehan was a language professional at the
University of Houston and was the last President of
IALLT's predecessor group, the
National Association of Language Laboratory Directors. Joe was influential in creating the strong relationship
NALLD and
IALLT have with the
Japan Association for Language Education and Technology (
LET) and helped with the first
FLEAT (Foreign Language Education and Technology) conferences. Joe was also very important in the creation of
IALL (now
IALLT) at a meeting at
Concordia University in
Montreal (Quebec, Canada), Joe's report about this meeting can be found at
http://fleat5.byu.edu/_files/FLEAT1IALL.pdf. In addition, a photograph of Joe with other
FLEAT leaders can be found at the same site at
http://fleat5.byu.edu/previous.html. More recently, in retirement, he spent time in
Thailand as well as
Houston continuing in his love for
Asia, its peoples and its cultures. His sense of humor, his gentle manner, his mentoring, and his engagement in the world of language learning and technology will certainly be missed.