Sister Gloria S. Meléndez was born and raised in Utah. She received a BA degree in anthropology from the University of Utah in 1955. In 1957 she became the first woman Fulbright scholar in Latin America, at which time she studied anthropology at the Universidad de Chile.
She earned her PhD in Latin American literature from BYU in 1980. In addition to her teaching, she pursued research in the Nahuatl (Aztec) language and culture here on campus, at the University of Texas at Austin, and in Mexico. She received a grant from the National Foundation for the Humanities for her Nahuatl studies and was selected for four awards for excellence in teaching from the BYU Student Alumni Association since 1991.
Professor Meléndez taught Latin American and Pre-Columbian literatures, cultures, and language in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. She directed numerous Study Abroad groups to Spain, Mexico, and Chile and at present serves as director of the department’s Mexico Literacy Internship Program with the Office of International Field Studies and Internships.
Since returning to Utah from Chile in 1967, she has served in a number of Church callings and currently lives in Pleasant Grove, Utah.
