SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 185
WHEREAS, Dr. Diana Natalicio announced her retirement as
president of The University of Texas at El Paso in May of 2018,
and as she prepares to conclude her remarkable three-decade
tenure in office, it is indeed fitting to recognize her
exceptional accomplishments; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Natalicio joined the university's faculty as
an assistant professor of linguistics in 1971; she rose to become
chair of the modern languages department, dean of the College of
Liberal Arts, and vice president of Academic Affairs before her
appointment as president in 1988; and
WHEREAS, Committed to expanding access to higher
education, Dr. Natalicio has skillfully guided the growth of
enrollment from 15,000 to more than 25,000; the school's
demographics now reflect those of the predominantly Hispanic
Paso del Norte region, and many students are the first in their
families to attend college; over the past 30 years, the
university's budget has increased from $65 million to more than
$500 million; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Natalicio has also focused on improving the
quality and breadth of academics and research; when she took the
helm, the university had a single doctoral program; today, it
offers 22 doctoral programs, and the institution's reputation
for excellence has helped capture significant research funding,
including more than $94 million annually from such agencies as
the United States Department of Energy, the National Endowment
for the Humanities, and the Environmental Protection Agency; the
university has designated nearly $400 million to build and
renovate facilities for science, engineering, and health
sciences, as well as for infrastructure related to student
quality of life; in 2018, the institution launched a new
binational academic partnership with a leading research
institution in Mexico, the Universidad Tecnológica de Ciudad
Juárez; and
WHEREAS, An acclaimed leader in higher education,
Dr. Natalicio was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the
National Science Board and by President George H. W. Bush to the
Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic
Americans; she has served on the boards of the Hispanic
Scholarship Fund, the Rockefeller Foundation, Trinity
Industries, Sandia Corporation, the United States-Mexico
Foundation for Science, and the American Council on Education; in
2017, she was named one of Fortune magazine's Top 50 World
Leaders, and the previous year, Time magazine ranked her among
the 100 Most Influential People in the World; her other honors
include the Academic Leadership Award from the Carnegie
Corporation of New York and the Orden Mexicana del Aguila Azteca,
the highest recognition Mexico accords foreign nationals; she
holds a bachelor's degree from Saint Louis University and both a
master's degree in Portuguese and a doctoral degree in
linguistics from The University of Texas at Austin; and
WHEREAS, Diana Natalicio has elevated the national
profile of The University of Texas at El Paso while making the
university more responsive to the needs of residents of the
Paso del Norte region, and her tremendous contributions to
higher education will continue to resonate for decades to
come; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 86th
Legislature, hereby commend Dr. Diana Natalicio for her
exemplary service as president of The University of Texas at El
Paso and extend to her sincere best wishes for the future; and, be
it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for
Dr. Natalicio as an expression of high regard from the Texas Senate.
Rodríguez
________________________________
President of the Senate
I hereby certify that the
above Resolution was adopted by
the Senate on February 13, 2019.
________________________________
Secretary of the Senate
________________________________
Member, Texas Senate