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Susan Schmidt, a longtime Center for Asian Studies staff member, retired at the end of January 2025, after serving as the first Executive Director of the American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ), an outreach branch of CAS.

Susan was hired in 1997 by Professor Laurel Rasplica Rodd - then chairing the Department of East Asian Language Literatures (now the Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations) and concurrently serving as President of the national Japanese language educators professional association - to direct the Bridging Clearinghouse, a national outreach and scholarship program with the mission of encouraging more college students of Japanese to study abroad in Japan. Since 1999, AATJ’s Bridging Scholarship program has awarded scholarships to almost 2,500 U.S. students, from almost every state including Colorado.

As time went by, she added general administration of the Association to her duties. AATJ’s 1,000+ members include researchers and teachers of Japanese at all levels from kindergarten to graduate school. In addition to the study abroad scholarship program, Susan managed the publication of a journal and newsletter, the convening of two annual national conferences for Japanese language educators, and many special projects that include online courses and webinars, professional development grants for teachers at all levels of instruction, and the administration of two proficiency tests for learners of Japanese across the country.

Under the sponsorship of CAS, CU-Boulder is one of 18 institutions in the United States that administer the annual in-person Japanese Language Proficiency Test to more than seven thousand test takers around the country. Susan lists working with colleagues at CAS – with its rich resources and wide-ranging programming - as one of the most rewarding parts of her job. Even after retirement, she looks forward to continuing to learn about Asia and its multi-faceted traditions and cultures by participating in the Center’s public activities and programs.