George Greenia

George Greenia holds his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. A specialist in the languages, works of literature, and linguistics of medieval Spain, he teaches seminars on Spanish Language, Epic and Nationalism, Hispanic Folktales, and Love and Prostitution in Medieval Spain. He is the co-founder of the William & Mary Program in Medieval and Renaissance Studies and founder of the William & Mary Institute for Pilgrimage Studies.

His interest in world pilgrimage spans many times, territories and traditions and he is an authority on the legendary Camino de Santiago in northern Spain where he has trekked over 4,000 miles, half on a bicycle, half on foot. Most summers he takes William & Mary undergraduates backpacking on the pilgrimage trails to conduct interdisciplinary field research. For his promotion of Spanish culture in the United States, in 2007 Greenia was knighted by order of King Juan Carlos I of Spain and granted the Encomienda de la Orden de Isabel la Católica.

Sir George Greenia is a co-founding member of the International Fraternity of the Camino de Santiago, headquartered in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and a member of the Archconfraternity of the Apostle St. James. In 2010 the Concejo de la Enxebre Orden de la Vieira, a confraternity of Galicians in the diaspora who support the Camino de Santiago, named him an “Ángel del Camino”. In 2016 Greenia was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from American Pilgrims on the Camino for playing a “significant role … in building the pilgrim community within the United States”.  His is the winner of the 2019 Compostela Prize for his “prolific academic trajectory, connection with Galicia and contribution to the dissemination of the Jacobean phenomenon”.

Margaret Monnier

Margaret Monnier is an expert on the Iberian Peninsula and has been living in Spain for the past 25 years.  She has a Masters degree in History from the University of Granada focusing on the coexistence between Jews, Muslims, and Christians during the Medieval period on the Peninsula. For twenty years she has been sharing her knowledge of and passion for Spain and Portugal in the field of educational travel, lecturing for various University programs and at cultural conferences. Her areas of expertise also include the Basque Country, Portuguese history and the Pilgrimage to Santiago.

Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Margaret also studied Modern Standard Arabic.  Her experience and knowledge Spanish and Portuguese History is as rich and varied as that of the contemporary daily life and cultural details on the Iberian Peninsula.

Gail Cornell

Gail Cornell is an architectural historian, whose research and lectures on the history of architecture have taken her to Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, and North Africa numerous times. A graduate of Harvard University's graduate School of Design, Gail has led many tours to Europe for Smithsonian Journeys over the past 20 years. She is an Adjunct Faculty member of New York University and a lecturer on architecture, design and art at NYC's Museum of Modern Art.  As a resident of New York City, Gail volunteers her time as an architectural historian at New York City's historic City Hall.