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                         March 12, 2004

Saldivar continues to inspire, guide cadets after 38 years

By Jim Fox
Assistant Editor 

Almost 38 years ago a young instructor donned a rankless  military uniform and began a journey of teaching cadets the finer points of Hispanic language and culture. Endless classes and a couple of cadet generations later, the fire and enthusiasm of the U.S. Military Academy’s Department of Foreign Language Instructor, Samuel G. Saldivar, still burns brightly.

Throughout the Army and the world are sprinkled former students of Salvidar, who consider his guiding hand and inspiration of primary importance to their chosen career paths.

“He’s a treasure for the department, the academy and the Army,” said DFL Head Col. William Held. “He has inspired and developed leaders of character from general officers on down during his 37 years here.”

Saldivar came to the United States from his native Mexico as a teenager who spoke little English.

He learned his new language well enough to earn enrollment at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

By 1964 he had earned both his undergraduate and master’s degrees.

After marrying his wife Toni, whom he met in an FSU English class, he taught for two years at his alma mater.

Armed with his postgraduate degree he accepted a position at the academy and began a teaching career here that enables him to lay claim to being the longest-tenured professor at West Point.

Saldivar worked on getting his Ph.  D. by attending night classes at New York University part-time over a 10-year period. By 1978 he had his doctorate in Latin American literature.

“Through all of these years I have felt good about people telling me I have been able to influence, to help, many graduates and many faculty members to do better in their careers,” Saldivar said. “I think I have inspired them and taught them to develop the respect and admiration and enthusiasm for the cultural Hispanic peoples.”

Held doesn’t look forward to the day, sometime in the future, when Saldivar may retire.

“He could retire anytime he wants,” Held explained. “But I hope he won’t. To have him here is a true honor.”

Held said West Point’s Superintendent, Lt. Gen. William J. Lennox Jr., called Salvidar a “quiet professional.”

“He is the supreme quiet professional and no one can fill his shoes,” he said. “His native competence, his love and knowledge of both the United States and all of South America, his knowledge of West Point and his knowledge of other academic institutions, you just can’t replace someone like him.”

Years ago Held gave Saldivar the mission of setting up a model for exchange programs with Latin American countries.

This week the two of them are in Chile laying the groundwork for what is, hopefully, the next in a long line of success in that area.

Along with his responsibility for teaching cadets, Saldivar also accompanies them on summer academic individual advanced development trips to such places as Mexico, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Miami.

“He makes you think about the big picture,” said Cadet 1st Class Ryan Kotska, a Spanish and Arabic major who accompanied Saldivar on an AIAD to Argentina in 2002.

Kotska spent part of last summer doing cadet troop leadership training in Korea, where he didn’t know the language. When asked to compare his past two summer trips, the future signal officer said he had a definite advantage when he was in Argentina.

“Knowing the language perfectly will get you instant respect,” Kotska said. “Knowing something about the culture and basic courtesies helped me greatly.”

The senior, who will post to Fort Bragg after completing his officer basic course at Fort Gordon, Ga., said he credits Saldivar’s tutelage for helping him grasp the big picture of why it is important for cadets to understand other cultures.

Former students and faculty who have worked with and studied under Saldivar routinely send him pearls of inspiration the longtime professor uses to keep up his motivation for continuing to teach.

“That’s what keeps me going,” Saldivar said before heading off to Chile. “The positive feedback that I have helped people further their careers.”