About Us

Welcome to the beginning of an adventure.

The program is dedicated to the memory of Daniele Dibie, who was the administrator responsible for creating the program at California State University, Northridge in the spring of 2001. In 2007 CSUN decided to phase out the interpreting program and Daniele then worked tirelessly and personallly underwrote the effort in then establishing it as Northridge Insitute of Interpretation. She was relentless in her work on behalf of the Spanish speaking community that needs these interpreting services. It was her vision to create opportunities for bilingual speakers of English/Spanish and other languages so they can use those skills in their upward mobility. She spoke of this vision up to the day she passed away on June 6, 2007.

Like so many others, Daniele came to the United States as a child and then learned English, while continuing to strengthen her native French language. She acted as interpreter and caretaker to her Arabic speaking mother-in-law during her lengthy illness. She understood the need for qualified bilingual/bicultural professionals.

In the spring of 2001 Daniele brought Ruben Murillo to CSUN. He had developed the program while teaching at the California State University, Los Angeles; UC San Diego and UC Irvine. He developed the curriculum, marketing strategy, and recruited and trained the instructors in the unique method modeled after the federal interpreter training program at the University of Arizona. The program grew to an average of 350 students per semester.

NII began offering classes in spring of 2007 and continues with the same materials, instructors, classrooms, and desire to benefit prospective interpreters and the people they will serve.

The instructors have all been carefully recruited over a period of years and selected for their extensive knowledge of the materials they teach, and their ability to craft students into candidates for the interpreting profession. They are all high energy and motivated as teachers.