Jack Child is a professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at American University and coordinates the Spanish translation program. Though of American parentage, he grew up in Argentina and lived in South America for eighteen years. After graduating from Yale, he began a first career as a Latin American specialist in the U.S. Army; among his duties were translation and interpretation, including some work involving chiefs of state. In his second career, he has taught a variety of courses dealing with Latin America and translation. He is accredited by the American Translators Association as a Spanish-English and English-Spanish translator.