Obituary of Alberto J. Carlos, Ph.D

Professor Alberto J. Carlos passed away from complications relating to Parkinson’s disease on March 15 at his home in Clifton Park. Born in Colton, California in 1928, Professor Carlos came to teach at the University at Albany in 1962 as an assistant professor. He had been teaching at the University of Buffalo since 1961. As a student he attended several universities: UCLA, University of California at Berkeley, University of Washington (Seattle), Université de Lausanne, Université de Paris (Sorbonne), Università di Firenze, and the Universidad Autónoma de México. Both his B.A. and M.A. were earned at Berkeley and he received the degree of Docteur de l'Université de Paris from the Sorbonne in 1961. At the beginning he taught various levels of language, civilization and literature courses, but later as a graduate professor he specialized in 19th- and 20th-century Latin American literature. He was co-translator, with Professor Frank Carrino, of the Argentine epic classic Martín Fierro. He taught courses on early 20th-century and contemporary Latin American authors such as Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, Rubén Darío, Juan Rulfo, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, and Octavio Paz among others. He directed several doctoral dissertations in the Department of Hispanic and Italian Studies and served on numerous Ph.D. dissertation committees. During the last decade of his teaching career, he was Director of Graduate Studies. He was also invited to speak at various American and foreign universities including Brown University, Universidad Autónoma de México, Universidad de Madrid, New York University, and the Universidad de Chile. For several years he taught a graduate-level cursillo at the Universidad de Madrid and also several doctoral summer courses at the Universidad de Málaga. In 1996 Professor Carlos retired from full-time teaching. He continued traveling to Latin America and especially Mexico. In later years he traveled to France at least twice a year. He is survived by his loving wife, Nevia R. Carlos, his daughter, Professor Claudia M. Carlos of Albany, his brother Captain Tomás Vicente Carlos (ret.) of San Diego as well as many relatives, mostly in California He was pre-deceased by brothers Cristóbal Carlos, José D. Carlos, and Santana Carlos. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday, March 18, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at Corpus Christi Church Ushers. Relatives and friends are invited and may call on Friday from 5-8 p.m. at the Gordon C. Emerick Funeral Home, 1550 Route 9, Clifton Park, Burial will take place in the spring in Jonesville Cemetery, Jonesville.