Alliance Française de St. Louis Staff
Myriam Bourg was born in Eygalières in Provence. She has worked in England and Germany. Dr. Bourg taught French and German at Webster University in St. Louis and retired as an Associate Professor. Myriam conducted frequent Studies Abroad as well as Summer Intensive courses in Eygalières for Webster University student. She has also served as the president of the AATF of Greater St. Louis. Myriam teaches all levels at the Alliance. Besides teaching, Myriam enjoys traveling, good books, classical music and hiking in the Alpilles in her native Provence.
Born and raised in central Michigan, Dean Brickner came to the St. Louis region in 1999 to pursue his undergraduate degree in English at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. During this time, he began studying French and, in the fall of 2004, thanks in part to a scholarship received from the Alliance Francaise, had the opportunity to spend one year in Angers, France. In 2006, he graduated from UM-Stl, summa cum laude, with two undergraduate degrees, one in English, the other in French. He currently teaches French and English classes for a local company in addition to conducting administrative work for the Alliance.
Astrid DeBuhr has been teaching at the Alliance Française since 1992. She has taught classes for adults since that time and in addition has been instrumental in the continued growth and development of the children’s program. Dr. DeBuhr started our first summer immersion camp for children. When she is not at the Alliance, Astrid teaches full-time at St. John Vianney High School in St. Louis. Other than her travels to France, Astrid loves quilting.
Nicole Georges came to St. Louis with her family from France in 1981. Nicole has a “licence-ès-Lettres” in French Literature and Old French from the Sorbonne University. She has been teaching at the Alliance Française for 15 years. She enjoys traveling and spends her summers in the Basque Country Nicole teaches Beginning and Intermediate classes and tutors.
Isabelle Heidbreder is from Provence, from Toulon to be precise. Isabelle studied law at the University of Toulon-Lagarde before coming to settle in the United States in 1981. Married (Joel – VERY American) and mother of twins Emily and Julie, she managed a bookstore in Savannah, taught French in Kansas City (Language Link) and worked for the Rock Hill School District in South Carolina. She knows everything, does everything and has been having fun for 6 years (with a Brazilian interlude in 2001) at the Alliance Française de St. Louis.
Daniel Hotard is a native of the St. Louis area. He earned his B.A. from Franklin College in Lugano, Switzerland; his M.A. from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and his Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies from the Université de Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV). He teaches French both at the Alliance Française de St. Louis and at St. Mary's High School on South Grand. He is currently working toward his J.D. at the St. Louis University School of Law.
With a degree of Maîtrise de Lettres Modernes on French Middle-Ages from the Sorbonne, Andrea Suarez-Romero started a Licence in Applied Linguisitics, speciliazing in French as a foreign language, in 2004. The same year, she left for Mexico to do an internship with the IFAL, an institute connected to the French Embassy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She also worked with the Alliances Françaises of Mexico (Del Valle and San Angel) where she taught the general public as well as companies such as ACCOR and AVENTIS PHARMA. She is currently continuing her studies at the Université Stendhal-Grenoble, a university reputed for its diffusion of French language abroad.
Born in Paris, Nicolas Lion studied history at the University of Paris, then International Business at the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris. He worked for a major advertising agency in Paris for two years before moving to St. Louis with his wife Jennifer in 2001. He is currently working as the Administrative Manager of the Alliance Française de St. Louis, as well as taking classes at Washington University’s University College for a Masters Degree in International Affairs. He also regularly animates French History talks for the Alliance Française. Nicolas enjoys computers, history, travel, cinema and strong coffee.
Paul Azzara has been with the Alliance Française de St. Louis since 1999. In 2000 he was named Executive Director. In addition to his administrative duties, Paul occasionally will teach a class at the AF. He taught high school French for 26 years. Besides his involvement at the AF he enjoys travel, old movies and being with friends.
Amy Turk moved back to her native St. Louis in 2006. Upon graduating from Washington University with a B.A. in French Literature in 1998, she relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There she taught French at the Alliance Française de Milwaukee, Divine Savior Holy Angels High School and at the University of Wisconsin while earning her Master’s Degree. She has also studied French Literature at Le Mirail, in Bordeaux, where she lived for two years teaching English at the Lycée Victor Louis. For the year preceding her return to St. Louis she taught French to refugees and immigrants at La Maison de L’Amitié, in Montreal, Canada. Currently she teaches French to both children and adults at the Alliance Française de St. Louis, as well as at Visitation Academy and the University of Missouri St. Louis.
Dan Nickolai is a native of St. Louis, but his passport is a testament to the extensive time spent abroad in both France and French-speaking Switzerland. Dan's energetic presence, contagious enthusiasm for the French language, and joie de vivre stem from identifying his raison d'être so early in life. A linguist at heart, he finds no greater joy in life than speaking and teaching the world's richest language. When not at the Alliance Française, Dan spends his days teaching French as a college professor and his nights are spent fighting crime and building orphanages by hand.
