Rice University’s mathematician Richard Tapia receives Hispanic Heritage Award

Rice University mathematician Richard Tapia will be honored with the Hispanic Heritage Award for Math and Science today at the star-studded 22nd Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards ceremony on Capitol Hill.

Tapia, University Professor, the Maxfield-Oshman Professor in Engineering and director of Rice’s Center for Excellence and Equity in Education, is internationally known for his research in the computational and mathematical sciences and is a national leader in education and outreach.

Today’s ceremony at the Senate Russell Building will feature presentations by members of Congress and a dynamic stage production with performances by top Latino artists. Tapia will join six other award winners, including New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, artist Romero Britto, boxer Oscar de la Hoya, singer Olga Tañon, rock band Maná and animated television star Dora the Explorer, namesake of the award-winning PBS television series for children.

Created in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan and the White House to commemorate the creation of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Hispanic Heritage Awards have grown into one of the nation’s most prestigious national honors and events. Past awardees include New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, television journalist Soledad O’Brien, actress Rita Moreno and author Sandra Benítez. The awards are presented annually by the Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) and sponsored by ExxonMobil.

“There is a component of going to this ceremony that’s really important,” Tapia said. “This award isn’t just for me. I’m going for the group I represent and for the things I care about, which are outreach, K-12 education, diversity and students. Somebody recognized that I’ve done things of high value, even if they’re not high visibility, and that means a great deal to me.”

Tapia, born in Los Angeles to parents who emigrated from Mexico as teenagers to seek educational opportunities, was the first in his family to attend college. He has authored or co-authored two books and more than 100 mathematical research papers and was the first native-born Hispanic elected to the National Academy of Engineering. In 2005, he earned Rice’s highest academic title, University Professor, becoming only the sixth person to earn the rank at Rice.

Tapia is known at Rice and beyond as a crusader for the advancement of minorities, and for his efforts was honored recently by the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. A video about Tapia, and his goals and achievements, can be found here:

• Authorities say a 7-year-old boy, three women and a university professor are among 15 people who were killed in a single day (this past Friday) in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez.
• Longtime Rutgers Professor, Community Activist, Gay-Rights Pioneer Hilda Hidalgo Loses Cancer Fight
• University of Central Florida Professor Luis Martínez-Fernández was recently named to the College Board’s governing body
• Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez and Paul Espinosa, professors in ASU’s Department of Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, are recipients of awards from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education. The awards recognize energy, expertise and remarkable contributions to the Hispanic community.
• In a new book Migration and the Transformation of the Southern Workplace Since 1945 (University of Florida Press), University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Professor of History Colin Davis, Ph.D., along with his co-editor, Robert Cassanello, present a collection of seven essays that examine the impact that migration and globalization are having on labor in the American South.
• ImpreMedia Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month via Digital, Mobile and Print
• A book that aims to explain the business and culture of drug trafficking playing out in El Paso and Juárez was released today. – “Drug War Zone: Frontline Dispatches from the Streets of El Paso and Juárez” is written by University of Texas at El Paso professor Howard Campbell.
• One failure of Hispanic Heritage Month
• NFL Latino Effort Pits Jets Fan vs. Dolphins Fan – Monday Night Game Centerpiece of League’s Hispanic Heritage Month Campaign
• At the end of the 31st annual Hispanic Heritage month, Latinos in the US are still waiting to celebrate a crucial victory –getting rid of the toxic water that poisons so many of our communities.
• University of Nevada, Reno professor Emma Sepulveda Pulvirenti was appointed to the commission this week by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. – National Museum of the American Latino Commission.
• As Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close this week, many Valley Hispanics are reflecting on a history much different than the one told by traditional historians. – Hispanics, who had been largely left out of local history books, are finding their community played a much larger role in the development of metropolitan Phoenix than most people realized.
• A leader in Northern Nevada’s Latino community has been invited to a White House gathering next week for Hispanic Heritage Month. – Xiomara Rodriguez
• Festival de la Familia Announces Poster Contest During National Hispanic Heritage Month – Northern California Artists Are Invited to Submit Entries Through November 30, 2009
• Hispanic Heritage Month too often low key
• According to Carmelo Mesa, a Cuban economist who’s a visiting professor at Tulane University in the United States, Venezuela bankrolled Cuba to the tune of $9.4 billion last year. This includes $2 billion to take account of the cost of subsidizing Venezuelan oil exports to Cuba. Venezuela sends oil to Cuba at a “preferential” price of just $27 a barrel.
• PRESIDENT AND MRS. OBAMA HOST ‘IN PERFORMANCE AT THE WHITE HOUSE: FIESTA LATINA’ DURING NATIONAL HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH — PBS Music Special to Feature Latino Performers Marc Anthony, Jimmy Smits, George Lopez, Gloria Estefan and More, Airs October 15
• Review of 2010 Census Communication Plan included Felipe Korzenny
• MTV Tr3s kicks into high gear their celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month with the continuation of their award-winning “Soy Mono” campaign.
• Hispanic Heritage Month: Watching Latino Politics Disappear