Armstrong State University Director of International Education Dr. Dorothée Mertz-Weigel will be knighted by the French Ministry of Education in a ceremony to be held at Armstrong in February 2017.

Mertz-Weigel will be conferred with the insignia of the Order of Academic Palms of the Chevalier (Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Academiques), an honor founded in 1808 by Napoleon Bonaparte to award devotion and accomplishment in the areas of teaching, scholarship and research.

The French Academic Palms continues today to recognize those who have rendered eminent service to French education and have contributed actively to the prestige of French culture with their merits, talents and exemplary activities.

“I am truly honored,” said Mertz-Weigel, a native of Colmar, France. “I am grateful to the French Ministry of Education for this distinct recognition.”
 
Mertz-Weigel joined Armstrong in 2007 and is also an associate professor of French Language and Literature. She has served on the Foreign Language Academic Advisory Committee, the Interdisciplinary Studies Committee and the Faculty Senate. Honored with the H. Dean Propst Award in 2010 for her efforts in student academic and extra-curricular engagement, Mertz-Weigel introduced an eMajor in French program to Armstrong’s campus last fall and directs the annual Francophone Film Festival.
 
Mertz-Weigel holds a doctorate in French Literature from Ohio State University.