Alicia Giralt

June 12, 1958 - June 1, 2018

Dr. Alicia Giralt, Professor of Spanish and Coordinator of the Latin America Studies Program at Weber State University, passed away on June 1, 2018. Her enormous heart, positivity, and humor will be missed by her family and many friends. Alicia was born on June 12, 1958 in Barcelona, Spain to Joan Giralt Ortolá and María Sánchez Peña. In 1978, she began her move to the United States, where she earned a B.A. in Print Journalism and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Spanish and Spanish-American Literature, all from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. She is survived by her husband of nearly 20 years, Tom Briggs of Ogden, Utah; her four sons: Ryan, John, Larry, and Jordi; two daughters, Sachiko and Madison; one granddaughter, María; and her two sisters, Lourdes Giralt and Dr. Nuria Giralt. For almost two decades, she taught at Weber State University in the Department of Foreign Languages. Fifteen years into her tenure, she began directing the Women & Gender Studies Program in order to uplift the underserved in her community. She received many teaching and community involvement awards, including the Higher Education Teacher-of-the-Year by the Utah Foreign Language Association, Outstanding Mentor Award, and Excellence in Teaching. She defined herself as a communicator in need to share what inspired and motivated her. This culminated in her life’s story, Blooming Out Of Darkness: A Memoir About Cancer, Spirits, And Joy, which she completed just two months ago. Alicia was passionate about education, having been the first in her family to not only go to college, but also receive a Ph.D. Her passion and commitment to service will live on through the Alicia Giralt Scholarship Fund, which will support low-income Spanish majors at Weber State University. In lieu of flowers, her family asks contributions be made to her Scholarship Fund at any Wells Fargo Bank.