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May 2013

The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education recently announced that Dr. Carlos Santiago, former chief executive officer of the Hispanic College Fund, has joined the department as senior deputy commissioner for academic affairs. Santiago will work closely with higher education commissioner Richard Freeland to advance the goals of the Vision Project, the commonwealth's strategic agenda to achieve national leadership among state systems of public higher education. Prior to leading the Hispanic College Fund, Santiago was chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for six years and provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He has a Ph.D. in economics from Cornell University.

Ricardo Romo, president of the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA), received the prestigious 2013 Clark Kerr Award for Distinguished Leadership in Higher Education from the University of California (UC)-Berkeley. The award was created in 1968 as a tribute to the leadership and legacy of UC President Emeritus Clark Kerr. It recognizes individuals who have made extraordinary and distinguished contributions to the advancement of higher education. In a statement from the UC-Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate, Romo was praised for his record of extraordinary achievement in institutional leadership that reflects Ken's vision for the role of the university in American democracy. Romo was commended for extraordinary success in promoting higher education as a model for recently founded American universities, especially those serving minority communities.

Miami Dade College (MDC) has announced that Isabel Hernandez was chosen as vice chair-elect of the Association of Florida Colleges (AFC) Learning Resources Commission. Hernandez, who began her career at MDC, is the college director for learning resources, reporting to the InterAmerican Campus. The AFC Learning Resources Commission provides an opportunity for community and state-college employees with similar job responsibilities to enhance their professional skills and knowledge so that they may share and recognize exemplary practices with colleagues from around the state.

In March at Western Michigan University, a scholarship fundraising dinner was held celebrating the life and work of civil rights leader Cesar E. Chavez. Ruben O. Martinez (d), director of the Julian Samora Research Institute at Michigan State University, presented the keynote talk. The event included remarks by area dignitaries and the presentation of the Chavez Day Committee's annual Tri-Community Award to Juan R. Muniz of Kalamazoo, executive director of the International Media Exchange, and Cesar E. Chavez Day Committee scholarships to Richard W. DeBoer of Lawton, Mich., and Lawton High School, and Miguel Rosas of Fennville, Mich., and Fennville High School.

Irma Casas Franco (d), director of Casa Amiga, a women's shelter in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, recently gave a talk about the work she and others are doing to help women and children who are suffering from extreme forms of violence as they are caught in the crosshairs of the war in Ciudad Juarez as a result of the "war on drugs," during a special presentation at California State University-Northridge. Casas Franco started working as a volunteer in Casa Amiga when it was established in 1999 while she was attending university and getting a degree in psychology. By 2005, and after finishing her master's, Casas Franco became a full-time psychologist, and one year later, she started directing Casa Amiga's psychology unit. In 2008, she directed the operations of the shelter, and in 2009, Casas Franco became Casa Amiga's director.