Part-time Spanish instructor Andrea Moreno died of a cerebral hemorrhage Thursday morning at Georgetown University Hospital after suffering a stroke May 11.

Moreno’s brother Pablo Moreno said she was born with a malformation of the veins in her brain, which caused her death.

“It’s just something that happens suddenly,” he said. “It could happen to you when you’re 10, it could happen when you’re 20.”

Students in Moreno’s spring semester classes described her as young and energetic.

“She was so personal to her students,” said sophomore Raj Parekh, who took Moreno’s Spanish 4 class. “She wouldn’t let any of us just sit there, and in a language class that’s important.”

Spanish Program Coordinator Ellen Echeverria said Moreno was well liked outside the classroom.

“She was a very good teacher and a very sweet person,” Echeverria said. “She was extremely generous both to us and her students with her time and everything else. Her students loved her very much.”

Moreno received a law degree from Complupense University in Madrid, Spain in 1997 and studied at the D.C. Berlitz Language Center before coming to GW.

“She was a very international person,” Moreno’s brother said, adding that she had lived in Colombia, Morocco, Spain, Belgium and the U.S.

“She was a young teacher, very concerned about teaching and about learning,” Spanish professor Alberto Moron-Pastor said.

Students said they enjoyed Moreno’s teaching style.

“She was very open, always very friendly, very talkative,” said sophomore James Flynn, who took Moreno’s Spanish 9 class. “I just thought she connected with students very well.”

Moron-Pastor said Moreno had plans to pursue a doctorate in secondary language education.

Parekh said his class may do something to honor Moreno’s memory.

“It’s such a big loss to the University,” he said. “It’s important to let people know how great she was.”
Moreno was 27 years old and taught at GW for one year.