I joined UB in 1973, as an assistant professor of Spanish linguistics. I was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 1977 and promoted to professor in 1982. I am primarily a phonologist. I have written on Spanish phonology in general and Latin American Spanish dialectology in particular. I have a special interest in the relationship between phonological knowledge and sociophonetic variation in Caribbean Spanish lects, focusing on Havana Spanish, which is my native lect. I have also written on semantic topics in Spanish grammar, especially in the areas of mood (the indicative/subjunctive distinction) and aspect (the preterite/imperfect distinction). I have been active also as a textbook writer, having co-written an introduction to Spanish linguistics, an intermediate college Spanish textbook, and an advanced high school Spanish textbook. I am the sole author of an introduction to Spanish phonology for speakers of American English. . My teaching at UB has gone beyond my area of specialization. In the late 1980s I became involved in the revision of general education at UB and was in the group that designed the American Pluralism course. I have taught a section of the course every fall since 1988, and since 1991 as a seminar for students in the university’s Honors Program (now Honors College). In 1997 I was one of four co-editors of an American Pluralism reader. Among my intellectual interests outside research and teaching is the writing of poetry. I have published a book, a chapbook, and numerous poems in printed and online journals. I write both in Spanish and English. I am represented in both languages at UB’s Electronic Poetry Center. Another literary interest of mine is the translation of poetry. I have translated American poets into Spanish (among them John Ashbery) and Hispanic poets into English (among them José Kozer ).I am also a painter and have had my work shown in Buffalo on several occasions.