About Us

The Aaron Schaffer Jensen Family Foundation was founded by me, Cathy Jensen de Sánchez with the help of my husband, Alejo Sánchez Alías.

Alejo and I have a whole lot of book learning. I hold a Masters Degree in Theoretical Linguistics from the University of Iowa where I was a full-time instructor in their (Iowa’s) IIEP and TAPE programs for learners of English as a Second Language. I was awarded a Fulbright Lecture Award to the University of Los Andes in Merida, Venezuela where I continued to work as an invited professor. I left that post to create and, for 18 years, to direct every aspect of a language school for learning Spanish and English called “The Iowa Institute,” hailed by many non-interested parties as “the best in South America.”

Alejo is an Engineer, M.Sc., PhD., and a retired Full Professor. His teaching and research careers were with an emphasis in the Thermal Sciences and Numerical Methods areas. He is author of more than 40 peer-reviewed-publications related to the development and application of algorithms for the solution of Radiative Transfer situations ranging from transparent to atmospheric-scale media with implementations traversing all types of computers, from personal to parallel processing supercomputers.

Neither of us, however, had taken the time to investigate the most crucial component of this life. And so, when our beloved Aaron died at 37 of sudden cardiac arrest, we were … to say the least … unschooled. Using our reason, sense, and intellect in our grief-stricken immersion course, we struggled mightily to understand our experiences with Aaron after his passing and came to KNOW (not believe) that death is not a dead end. The Aaron Schaffer Jensen Family Foundation was founded to encourage others to do the same.