Rou Chen, Undergraduate Office Assistant
September 2023 - present. Rou Chen is an undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, majoring in Psychology on the Pre-Med track. She is originally from Fujian, China, and moved to the United States at the age of five. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and English with knowledge of Spanish. Her interest in translation stems from her history of translating for her immigrant family since she was young. At the Gentzler Translation Center at UMass Amherst she supports professional translation project management and contributes to the promotion of translation education. In the future, she aspires to become a psychiatrist to provide accessible services for underrepresented communities.
Elizabeth Rotunno, High School Student Intern
October 2025 - present. Elizabeth Rotunno is a high school senior from Western Massachusetts. She is a native speaker of Italian and English, and also studies French, Spanish, and Korean. She has been interested in languages and translation since she was a toddler, when her parents began reading her multilingual storybooks. She is a recipient of the National Security Language Initiative for Youth study abroad scholarship, and is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Aster Lit, an international youth literary magazine. At the Gentzler Translation Center, she assists with translations and special projects.
Xavier Weatherhead, High School Course Facilitator
January 2026 - present. Xavier Weatherhead is an undergraduate student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, majoring in Linguistics and Spanish. They are from Boston, MA and are fluent in English and Spanish, with the latter being a heritage language. They have always been extremely interested in the workings of language, and have been creating their own languages and translating into them since middle school. At the Gentzler Translation Center at UMass Amherst they serve as a facilitator for the Foundations of Translation, Interpreting, and Language Access class run in partnership with New Bedford High School.