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In Memoriam: Ben Teague1945 - 2008by Gabe Bokor |
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Ben was born and raised in Oak Ridge, Tennessee in 1945 and graduated in Physics from Rice University in 1967. After having worked for Union Carbide Corporation (Oak Ridge, Tennessee), the Houston Independent School District, and the University of Texas at Austin, he set up shop as a freelance translator from Russian and German. He later dropped Russian to concentrate on German-to-English translations. He moved to Athens, GA in 1977. In addition to being an accomplished and respected technical-scientific translator, he was actively involved in the local theater group Town & Gown, designing and building sets. Ben was one of ATA's youngest officers and maybe one of the longest-serving (eight years). At one time or another he headed about half of ATA's committees, including the Accreditation and Ethics Committees. He served as the Association's Secretary between 1975 and 1979 and its President between 1981 and 1983. He was the recipient of ATA's Gode Medal for distinguished service to the Profession in 1990. As one of the early members of CompuServe's Foreign Language Forum (FLEFO), he was an enthusiastic promoter of the use of technology by translators in the 80s. He was tireless in helping his colleagues by answering their questions about terminology, technology, and business practices. His articles in the ATA Chronicle, "The View from Down Here," dealt with ATA governance and issues of the profession. He was actively involved in the ATA's Accreditation (later Certification) program, and in the ultimately unsuccessful high-level certification program (ATACERT). Ben was an avid baseball fan and a big supporter of the Atlanta Braves.
Ben died trying to protect the apparent target, the shooter's estranged wife. Survivors include his mother, Anna Kate Teague; his brother and sister-in-law, Tom and Stephanie Teague; Fran, his wife of 41 years; and his nephews, Joseph Townley Teague, Recy Benjamin Dunn, Christopher Dunn and Nick Dunn. Ben Teague's tragic death is a major loss to ATA and the translator community. Our heartfelt condolences go to his family.
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en Teague died tragically on April 25, victim of a senseless murder.