As we begin our new academic year, The Hispanic Outlook on Education is pleased to name Dr. Antonio R. Flores, Ph.D. as our choice for the Hispanic of the Year. An individual, who has had a longstanding and distinguished career in improving the status and success of Hispanics in higher education, Flores, since 1996, has been the president and chief executive officer of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). However, Flores’ career predating HACU includes a series of diverse and challenging responsibilities involving senior executive leadership.

The passion Flores brings to HACU, a national organization that represents more than 450 colleges and universities that collectively serve two-thirds of the more than three million Hispanic students in U.S. higher education across 37 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, is in Flores’ words, “an overwhelming need, to improve higher education access and success for Hispanic students.” This idea represents an overarching theme of his life’s work.

HACU is a perfect match for Flores’ avocation. Its growing membership consists of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), where Hispanics constitute 25 percent or more of the total enrollment at either the graduate or undergraduate level, or both, and Associate Member Institutions, where Hispanics comprise a minimum of 10 percent of the total enrollment or 1,000 students.

As Flores explains, “Latinos are the future of the American economy. But Hispanics have faced a range of barriers, economic and social, to educational attainment. Historically they suffer from the highest high school dropout rate of any population group. Consequently, Hispanic college-going and graduation rates lag those of others.” And that’s where Flores has focused like a laser beam on improving that picture.

HACU Success During Flores Tenure

During Flores’ tenure as president of HACU, the association has nearly tripled its membership and its budget. It has expanded its programs three-fold, significantly improved legislation for HSIs, increased annual federal funding for HSIs from $12 million in fiscal 1995 to $220 million for fiscal 2017, and secured millions of dollars in new private funding for HSIs and associate members, including a $28 million HSI Kellogg initiative. HACU’s strategic plan calls for even greater gains for its membership in the years ahead. Nearly $3 billion in federal funding has been allocated to HSIs during Flores’ tenure.

Overall, Flores is responsible for the overall leadership, executive management, public and community relations, policy formulation and advocacy, association governance affairs, advancement planning, financial and investment oversight, human resources policies, strategic planning, and programmatic accountability and reporting at HACU. These interrelated and complex responsibilities are carried out with the collaborative teamwork of 40 dedicated professional staff at HACU headquarters in San Antonio, TX, and offices in Washington, DC, and Sacramento, Calif.

Past Achievements

Flores didn’t need his position at HACU to burnish his Hispanic of the Year credentials. Prior to his position at HACU, Flores served as director of programs and services for the Michigan Higher Education Assistance Authority and the Michigan Higher Education Student Loan Authority. His statewide responsibilities included policy analysis and development, legislative affairs, administrative leadership for programs, technical assistance and outreach services for all Michigan colleges and universities, program evaluation and research, and overall management.

Flores has extensive professional experience in higher education. He has:

• taught at private and public institutions, both community colleges and comprehensive research universities

• conducted research and policy studies, published and unpublished, on higher education issues

• been an administrator of campus-based and statewide programs

• done extensive advancement work at the state and national levels

• has provided public service at the local, state, national and international levels

Other Honors

Flores was featured among the Top 25 Latino Leaders in Education (September/October 2008 issue) in Latino Leaders Magazine. He was named among the 12 national leaders of Hispanic organizations in the 2008 Líderes advertising campaign by MillerCoors (2008). Flores was the recipient of the Ana G. Méndez University System in Puerto Rico Presidential Medal Award (2004). In 2003, Hispanic Business Magazine recognized him with a Lifetime Achievement Award (2003). He is the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award (2003) and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters (2017) from Western Michigan University, an Honorary Doctorary of Humane Letters from New Jersey City University (2016), an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from Notre Dame de Namur University in California (2014), an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Woodbury University in California (2002), an Honorary Doctorate of Education from Madonna University in Michigan (1995), tributes by former Michigan Governors Jim Blanchard and John Engler for outstanding contributions to the educational improvement of the state, joint resolutions by the Michigan House of Representatives and Senate for exemplary work in the state’s higher education system, induction to the “Wall of Honor” as a distinguished alumnus at Western Michigan University (1986), and numerous other awards for special contributions and accomplishments. Flores was valedictorian of his college graduating class and was the recipient of academic merit scholarships and fellowships throughout his educational career.

Congratulations to Dr. Flores for his immeasurable contribution to the success of Hispanics in higher education. •

Source Material Courtesy of HACU