Remembering Professor Emeritus Joaquin Villegas, Ph.D.

Joaquin Villegas, Ph.D., who served Northeastern Illinois University for 16 years, died on Jan. 30, 2026. He was 79 years old.

A funeral Mass will be held on Thursday, Feb. 5, at 3:00 p.m. at The Church of the Atonement, 5749 N. Kenmore Ave. in Chicago. Visitation will take place at the church from 1:00 to 2:45 p.m. A livestream of the Mass will also be available on the church’s website.

Dr. Villegas was a dedicated faculty member in the Daniel L. Goodwin College of Education (GCOE) Teacher Education Department (TED) and as Coordinator of both the graduate and undergraduate programs in Bilingual/Bicultural Education. He retired as Professor Emeritus of Teacher Education in 2013 and briefly returned to the University as an Adjunct Professor in 2023.

With an academic career distinguished by recognition as a Fulbright Scholar, with service in South Africa in 2010 and Jamaica in 2016, Dr. Villegas’ research interests included bilingual education, multicultural education, the Seal of Biliteracy, and, most recently, translanguaging. His scholarship and leadership demonstrated a sustained commitment to educational equity and linguistic justice.

In addition to his work at the GCOE, Dr. Villegas was a founding member of St. Augustine College in Chicago, where he served as a founding member of the college, faculty member and administrator before joining Northeastern. He also served as a co-founder and member of the Board of Trustees of Multilingual Chicago.

Dr. Villegas earned his Bachelor of Arts in History and a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from the University of Puerto Rico. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame. His contributions to Northeastern and to the field of education were significant and lasting.