Board of Directors

The Board of Directors shall have the power and authority to manage the Association's property and to regulate and govern its affairs, .... to determine policies ....to approve applications for membership; and to devise and carry out measures necessary and desirable, on behalf of the Association.....

The TAPIT Board of Directors currently consists of five members.  They are:

President - Marvyn Bacigalupo-Tipps, Ph.D.,  has been a freelance translator and interpreter of Spanish for more than 30 years.. She holds certification from the American Translators Association for translation from Spanish to English and from English to Spanish. In 1991, she became a Federally Certified Spanish Court Interpreter and later both a Tennessee and Kentucky State Certified Interpreter.

Marvyn has played a vital role in our own state Interpreter Certification Program and regularly trains court and healthcare interpreters. She is a member of the American Translators Association, the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators, and the Tennessee Association of Professional Interpreters and Translators, which she co-founded in 2003.  Since the TAPIT Conference’s inception, she introduced the concept of our very popular Medical Friday three years ago. She founded the organization’s newsletter, The TAPIT Times in 2004.  Marvyn lives in Nashville, Tennessee.  She can be reached at:  thespanishsource@bellsouth.net

Treasurer -  Nick Perez attended elementary and high school in Cuba.  He earned an Associate of Business Administration degree from Nichols Jr. College in Dudley, Massachusetts, and later a BS degree from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Nick has been married to Dolly Anne for almost 44 years and has two sons and four grandchildren.  He served in the United States Army from 1966 through 1968 and received an honorable discharge.

He has held the position of Chief Financial Officer for several companies, including a department store chain, a trucking company, and a whoesale shoe ompany.  He recently retired and has been active transitioning out of his former responsibilities.

He is a Certified State Court interpreter in Tennessee.  He interprets in courts as needed by various government and private entities.  He has served as Treasurer of TAPIT for three years and lives in Nashville, Tennessee.  Nick can be reached at:  candelero1@comcast.net 

Secretary - Ardis L. Nelson, Ph.D., is a professor of Hispanic Literature at East Tennessee State University, where she served as Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages for five years, and currently teaches Spanish/English Translation and Interpretation.  She was certified as a Court Interpreter (Spanish) in the Tennessee Supreme Court Interpreter Credentialing Program in 2006. She also holds a Certificate of Competency in Medical Interpreting from the National Center for Interpretation: Testing, Research and Policy; University of Arizona, Tucson (July 2006).

Since 1999 she has served as Director of the ETSU Language and Culture Resource Center, which coordinates service-learning projects in the community for university Spanish students. During the summer she directs the five-week ETSU Migrant Education Program (2002- present), which serves up to 100 migrant children ages 3 to 17.

Ardis was awarded the ETSU College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Distinguished Service Award in 2002 and 2009. She recently received the 2009 Tennessee Higher Education Commission Harold Love Outstanding Community Involvement Award.  Ardis lives in Johnson City, Tennessee.  She can be reached at:  ardis@chartertn.net

Member-at-Large - Rob Cruz  is a native of Cuba, and grew up in Miami, Florida, following his work in middle and upper management for a multinational corporation.  He became the company's Corporate Trainer, where he developed Spanish language materials and training curriculums.

For the past four years, Rob has worked extensively in the Tennessee court system and is a State Certified court interpreter.  Currently, he owns RCIT, an interpreting, tranlsation and consulting company.

Rob currently serves on the Board of Directors of NAJIT, the National Association of Judicial Interpreters and Translators. He is also serving as Member-at-Large on the TAPIT Board of Directors.  Rob lives in Athens, Tennessee.  He can be reached at: rcruz99@bellsouth.net

Member-at-Large - Liz Hernandez, a Nashville native, learned Spanish in studies and travels in Ecuador, Mexico, and Costa Rica.  She earned dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Environmental Science and Latin American Studies in 1999 from Scripps College in Claremont, California.  She has a Master of Arts degree in Teaching from Belmont University in 2004.  She has taught Spanish at Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet School, Abintra Montessori School, And Volunteer State Community College.

Liz currently works as a freelance interpreter and translator and as a paralegal at Rose Immigration Law Firm.  For the past two years, she has served on the TAPIT Board of Directors and the Conference Committee Chair.  She is now the President-Elect of TAPIT.  Liz lives in Nashville, Tennessee and can be reached at:  rlizhernandez@gmail.com