Robert D. Peckham, Ph.D., Médaille d’Or de la Renaissance Française

Robert D. Peckham (a.k.a. Tennessee Bob) has taught French in public and private K-12 schools and in public, private and federal government postsecondary institutions since 1968. As a professor in the Department of English and Modern Foreign Languages at the University of Tennessee at Martin, he has given nearly a hundred professional presentations and has offered faculty technology workshops on many college campuses.

Dr. Peckham has published articles, notes and reviews in The Modern Language Journal, The French Review, French Studies, Speculum, Fifteenth-Century Studies, The American Association of Teachers of French National Bulletin, The Echo: Journal of the Tennessee Foreign Language Teachers Association, The Language Journal – New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers, The Baylor Educator, Tennessee Philological Bulletin, Studies in Medievalism, Foreign Language Notes, The Forum of Phi Sigma Iota, and La Gazette de l’École française de Middlebury. His book on the French medieval poet François Villon is in major research libraries around the world.

He is on the board of editors for Tennessee Foreign Language Association Journal, is the founding editor of the Société François Villon Bulletin, and is the director of Globe-Gate Intercultural Web Project, including the Andy Holt Virtual Library. He is also the founder of the French vocal-instrumental duet “Au Coeur du Vent”. He was national vice president of the AATF and is currently chair of its Commission on Advocacy.

Dr. Peckham was a recipient of the Prix de l’Amicale (Middlebury, 1971), the Commander’s Public Service Award (West Point, 1987), the Jacqueline Elliott Award for service and research from the Tennessee Foreign Language Teachers Association (1996), and the Robert J. Ludwig National Distinguished Leadership Award (NYSAFLT, 2008). In 2009, Dr. Peckham was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French government.

William C. Carter, Ph.D., Médaille d’Or du Mérite Francophone

William C. Carter received his Ph.D. in French from Indiana University in 1971. He was director of an Ohio University Junior Year Abroad program in Tours, France, and then joined the faculty of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and became chair of the Department of Foreign Languages in 1979. He received numerous prestigious grants and fellowships, including those from the American Council of Learned Societies and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Dr. Carter is committed to the promotion of French culture and literature in the United States. He was the project director of a semester- long program entitled “Marcel Proust at UAB,” which brought him international recognition. His film on Marcel Proust was broadcast nationally on PBS and later in many other countries. His biography, Marcel Proust: a Life, published by Yale University Press in 2000, was selected by The New York Times as a “notable book.” In 2013, Yale University Press will publish his revised and annotated version of the famous Scott Moncrieff translation of Swann’s Way.

The co-creator of the online site Proust-Ink (www.proust-ink.com), he is one of the most respected American Proust scholars in France, where he is repeatedly invited to give lectures in French, during which he generously shares his expertise. Dr. Carter was honored by the French government with the rank of Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques in 1989.

Claude Lambert, La Médaille d’Or de Solidarité et Valeur

Claude Lambert arrived in San Francisco from Orléans, France, in 1966, bringing with him his love of his native culture and his knowledge of the French education system, to become one of the principal ambassadors of French culture in Northern California. He was a founder of the first entirely French school in San Francisco, La Petite Ecole Française, which became Le Lycée Français La Pérouse. He was instrumental in establishing the school at the Alliance Française de San Francisco. He taught at both schools and served on their respective boards for many years.

While still teaching, Monsieur Lambert and his wife, Micheline, purchased and renovated a rundown property on Nob Hill and turned it into a charming bed and breakfast. The Cornell Hotel de France, which houses the well-respected Jeanne d’Arc restaurant, has become a San Francisco landmark, integral to the fabric of the French community in the Bay Area. The Lamberts have hosted many distinguished visitors: well- known writers, artists, members of the diplomatic corps and top French government officials. The Lamberts frequently make their establishment available at little or no charge for French cultural and educational activities. The Cornell Hotel was the headquarters hotel for the 2005 Assemblée Générale of the Federation of Alliances Françaises USA.

On July 14, 1994, Mayor Frank Jordan decreed “Claude and Micheline Lambert Day” in honor of the Lamberts’ ongoing contribution to the local Franco-American community. On July 14, 2011, a California Senate Resolution, under the auspices of Senator Leland Yee, recognized and thanked Claude Lambert for a lifetime of achievements for the people of San Francisco.

Born in Orléans, France, Monsieur Lambert attended the Ecole Normale d’Orléans. He served for 28 months as an officer during the Algerian War.