UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 22, Page 14
March 5, 1992
Service for Robert J. Di Pietro in St. Thomas More Oratory

     A memorial service will be held at 5 p.m., Friday, March 13,
for Dr. Robert J. Di Pietro, professor of linguistics, at St.
Thomas More Oratory, 45 Lovett Ave., Newark.
     Students, faculty, staff and friends of the late professor are
invited to attend and participate in a memorial mass. A  reception
will follow in the oratory.
     Dr. Di Pietro, who died Dec. 20 at Fairfax Hospital near his
home in McLean, Va., had lung cancer.
     Internationally known for his unique method of teaching
foreign languages which involved working in groups with role
playing and discussion, Dr. Di Pietro authored several books on
linguistics and lectured throughout the world.
     Born July 18, 1932, in Endicott, N.Y., he earned his
undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at
Binghamton, a master's degree in romance languages and literature
from Harvard University and his doctorate in linguistics from
Cornell University.
     He was a Fullbright lecturer in linguistics in 1960, when he
taught at the University of Rome and, in 1963, when he lectured at
the University of Madrid.
     Dr. Di Pietro joined the Delaware faculty in 1978 as
chairperson of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.
That same year, he was knighted by the Italian government in
recognition of his contributions to the field of Italian
linguistics, ethnicity and language teaching in the world. He
previously served on the faculty of Georgetown University.
     Named Delaware Language Teacher of the Year in 1990, Dr. Di
Pietro worked to establish the University's linguistics department
in 1985 and was its senior professor at the time of his death.