Celebrated Syracuse University linguist and teacher of English as second language dies at age 80

Syracuse University Associate Professor Emerita Jeanette D. Macero died on May 9 in Boston, Mass.  She was 80 years old. Macero specialized in teaching English as a second language. She was appointed as assistant professor of English in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences in 1974 where she coordinated the department’s Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Program. She continued as TESOL Program coordinator when it was moved in 1991 to the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics until her retirement in May 1998.

Macero held a B. A. in English from Barnard College (1952), a master’s in linguistics from Columbia University (1953), and pursued doctoral studies in linguistics at the University of Michigan from 1954-1957, where she was also a lecturer in that university’s prestigious English Language Institute until 1959. 

In 1959, Macero was appointed curriculum supervisor and principal of the Syracuse City School District’s Prescott Evening School, where she also taught English as a second language and supervised the American citizenship classes for adults.  From 1962 until her SU faculty appointment, she was a part-time lecturer at SU, a linguistics consultant to Laubach Literacy International, a TESOL consultant at Upstate Medical Center, a TESOL coordinator and instructor in the Peace Corps Teacher Training Program at SU, and a visiting lecturer at Georgetown University.

Macero was a longtime member of the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers (NYSAFLT), serving as co-chair of the organization’s Research Projects Committee (1980-1986) and Central New York ESL Planning Committee from 1988 to retirement. She was also an Honorary Life Member of New York State TESOL, an organization in which she served also as president in 1978. She was a founding member of Alpha Sigma Chapter, Phi Beta Delta (Honor Society for International Scholars) and the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award (1982 and 1978) presented by the NY State English to Speakers of Other Languages and Bilingual Educators Association. Macero authored a three volume series of teaching manuals, “The Laubach Way to English” published by New Readers Press, Syracuse.  She was also the author of a number of scholarly papers and a frequent guest presenter at conferences, seminars, and workshops at universities across the country.

After retiring, Macero moved to Medfield, Mass.  Surviving are her husband, SU Professor Emeritus Daniel J. Macero, a longtime member of the Department of Chemistry; her 99-year-old mother Anna DiRusso of Somerville, Mass; sister Diana Antonucci and husband Michael Antonucci of Lynn, Mass; daughter Diana and husband John Mileszko of Medfield, Mass; and son, Peter and wife, Mona Macero of Newton, Mass; as well as three Mileszko grandchildren, Alison, Jack, and Philip; and two Macero grandchildren, Miles and Savannah.  Contribution in her memory may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Walnut Street, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481 or online at http://www.jdrf.org.