ON WORLDS AND WORDS: LATIN AMERICAN THEN & NOW
Remarks at the Installation Ceremony for the William H. Gass Professor in Arts & Sciences
Chancellor Mark Wrighton, Dean Edward Macías, Dr. William Gass and Mrs. Mary Gass, dear colleagues, students, family and friends…Today is a wonderful day. First of all, I would like to thank all of you for being here today, to share this special occasion with me. Your presence will help me express my gratitude for the incredible honor of this Chair which celebrates the excellence and refinement of one of the most prominent names of American contemporary literature, that of William H. Gass, author of some of the most intelligent and unforgettable books I have read in my many years of literary studies, one of the glories of the English language, a master of metaphors, an alchemist of words, images, and fantasies. First of all, let me tell you that in my attempt to thank you for this honor I wish I had some of my daughter’s gifts to assist me in this endeavor. I wish, for instance, I had Rosalía’s grace and talent, her seductive ability to fascinate her public when she opened her exhibit at the Rockefeller Center, at Harvard University a few years ago, confessing to the audience: “I am painfully shy…” (something nobody would believe coming from me) only to initiate right there a deep and sound presentation on the topic of memory and oblivion, a topic that we have elaborated, one way or another, at least since the mid seventies, when Rosalia and I left Uruguay during the years of the dictatorship. I wish I had Juliana’s unbelievable poise and charm right there on the stage of the Dorothy Chandler Auditorium, in Los Angeles, where she danced with an elegance that was solid and light, assertive and subtle at once, the way she always is, as a dancer, as a psychologist, as a mother. And I am mentioning them because none of the instances that have anteceded this exceptional day would have been possible without them, and no recognition would ever be just for me, but for the three of us (….)
With family members: Richard & Antje Shadoan, daughters and spouses
With Chancellor Mark Wrighton, William Gass, and Dean Edward Macías 
With her daughters Juliana (left), Rosalîa (right) and spouses
Mabel Moraña and William H. Gass