SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 46
In Memory
of
Diana Natalicio
WHEREAS, An exemplary life dedicated to educational
opportunity for all has drawn to a close with the death of The
University of Texas at El Paso president emerita Dr. Diana
Natalicio on September 24, 2021, at the age of 82; and
WHEREAS, Born in St. Louis on August 25, 1939, Diana
Natalicio received her bachelor's degree in Spanish from Saint
Louis University and her master's degree in Portuguese and
doctorate in linguistics from The University of Texas at Austin;
she joined UTEP as an assistant professor of linguistics in 1971,
and after serving as chair of the modern languages department,
dean of liberal arts, and vice president for academic affairs,
she became the 10th president of the university on February 11,
1988, and the first woman to hold the office; and
WHEREAS, Over the course of her extraordinary 31-year
tenure as president, Dr. Natalicio helped raise UTEP enrollment
from nearly 15,000 to more than 25,000 students, and she helped
increase the population of Mexican American students to 80
percent of the student body; under her dynamic leadership, the
school's annual budget increased from $65 million to almost $450
million, and she oversaw a tenfold increase in research spending;
the school also increased the number of its doctoral programs
from one in 1988 to 22 in 2019, and that same year, UTEP was named
a top-tier R1 doctoral research university by the Carnegie
Classification of Institutions of Higher Education;
Dr. Natalicio retired in August 2019; and
WHEREAS, A world-renowned leader in her profession,
Dr. Natalicio was appointed by President George H. W. Bush to the
Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic
Americans and by President Bill Clinton to the National Science
Board, which she served for 12 years, including three terms as
vice chair; she also sat on the boards of the Hispanic
Scholarship Fund, The Rockefeller Foundation, the American
Council on Education, the National Action Council for Minorities
in Engineering, the Association of Public and Land-grant
Universities, and the U.S.-Mexico Foundation for Science, among
many others; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Natalicio's numerous honors included the
Conquistador Award from the City of El Paso, the Academic
Leadership Award from Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Orden
Mexicana del águila Azteca from the president of Mexico, the
TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence,
the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education, and induction into
the Texas Women's Hall of Fame; in 2017, Fortune magazine named
her one of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders, and in 2016, she was
included in Time magazine's list of the 100 Most Influential
People; she received honorary doctorates from universities
around the world; and
WHEREAS, Diana Natalicio earned the respect and admiration
of all who knew her for her vision, her dedication, and her
commitment to a high-quality education for every American, and
she leaves behind a legacy that will resonate in El Paso and
beyond for years to come; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 87th
Legislature, 3rd Called Session, hereby pay tribute to the life
and achievements of Dr. Diana Natalicio and extend sincere
condolences to her family and to her many friends and colleagues;
and, be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this Resolution be
prepared for her family and that when the Texas Senate adjourns
this day, it do so in memory of Dr. Diana Natalicio.
Blanco
________________________________
President of the Senate
I hereby certify that the
above Resolution was adopted by
the Senate on October 14, 2021, by
a rising vote.
________________________________
Secretary of the Senate
________________________________
Member, Texas Senate