Katy Walter Lichon, Ph.D.

Katy Walter Lichon serves as the Director for the English as a New Language (ENL) Program, the Director of the Catholic School Advantage (CSA), and is an Associate Teaching Professor with ACE Teaching Fellows. In addition, she serves as a faculty fellow for Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child, Center for Literacy Education, and Center for the Study of Languages and Culture. 

Lichon is an educational linguist who focuses on the education of K-12 multilingual learners in Catholic schools and teacher education. This work has led to the publication of English Oral Language Assessment (ACE Press, 2013), Our Legacy and Our Future: A Framework for Serving English Learners in Catholic Schools (NCEA Press, 2017), Supporting English Learners: A Diocesan Handbook for K-12 (NCEA Press, 2018), and Ten Days to Becoming a Better Educator of English Learners (NCEA Press, 2018), as well as numerous articles in diverse publications. She was honored with the Christ the Teacher award in 2020.

Lichon received her B.B.A. in marketing and management from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, M.Ed. from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, and her Ph.D. in Educational Philosophy from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Lichon has also helped to begin the two-way immersion program at Holy Cross School in South Bend, IN, that is now in its fourth year. She resides in South Bend, Indiana with her husband and three children.