Founder and Owner – Fortuna Communication

Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Alan Fortuna earned his Bachelor’s Degree (B.S.) in Biology from Arizona State University in 2004. After moving to Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship, he enrolled in the Eberhard Karl Universität Tübingen, later earning his M.A. (Magister) in both General Rhetoric and Philosophy. He also began teaching, and quickly developed a portfolio focused on business English and strategic communication. Soon after, he founded Fortuna Communication to coordinate all of his teaching and translation activities under one roof.

In addition to leading Fortuna Communication, in 2018 Alan earned his Ph.D. in General Rhetoric magna cum laude at the University of Tübingen. His dissertation “Polarization: Rhetorical Strategies in the Tea Party Network” is available for purchase from De Gruyter. Since 2018, Alan has held a professorship for Business English and Operational Communication at the VWA College in Stuttgart.

A detailed CV is available upon request.

Testimonials

"I have always been extremely happy with translations done by Fortuna Communication. [...] This is what sets Mr. Fortuna’s work apart from other translators: his personal attention and collaboration ensures that my books, articles, and lectures are not only accurately translated, but that they always feel natural and fluent."

Prof. Dr. Joachim Knape (Professor Institute for General Rhetoric, Tübingen; Author of “Modern Rhetoric in Culture, Arts, and Media“)

"He taught English to our marketing department for many years [...] and if we ever have a text to translate or to proofread, we know that we can always count on him. Alan is reliable, he works quickly, and is extremely professional [...] he has become not only an English teacher for me but a mentor and a sparring partner as well, especially when preparing presentations."

Tanja Senghas (BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH; Head of Global Brand Management)

"I have worked together with Alan for a number of years now [...] He is knowledgeable, outgoing, and approaches each seminar as an opportunity to help participants improve their communication skills. I would recommend his workshops and seminars to anyone looking to improve their English, their strategic communications skills, or both."

Prof. Dr. Niamh O’Mahony (ESB Business School; Program Director MSc International Management and Head of Languages)

"We have worked together with Alan for fifteen years and consider him a competent and reliable partner for our company. He supports the translators that we provide services for whenever they have difficult language questions, and is always our first recomendation when our customers require a translation into the English language."

Ute Mihr (Verlagservice Mihr GmbH; Managing Director)