News (Noticias) Tagged ‘Professor’

Santa Ana College President, Dr. Erlinda Martinez, was selected as one of the “Top 25 Latinos in Education” according to Latino Leaders magazine, a national magazine that targets Latino readership. The list, which appears in the magazine’s most recent issue (September/October), includes leaders throughout the country who hold influential positions in institutions of higher education. The “Top 25” list is the inaugural list of its kind and
Dr. Martinez is the only Orange County college president selected.

“It is such a distinguished and exclusive honor for one of our institutional leaders to be recognized on such a platform as the Latino Leaders magazine,” said Dr. Edward Hernandez, Jr., Rancho Santiago Community College District chancellor. “We are very proud of Dr. Martinez’ recognition and for her extensive contributions to Santa Ana College.”

About Santa Ana College
Part of Rancho Santiago Community College District, Santa Ana College serves nearly 40,000 credit and non-credit students each semester and offers 136 certificate and associate degree programs. The mission of the Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD) is to respond to the educational needs of an ever-changing community and to provide programs and services that reflect academic excellence. Santa Ana College and Santiago Canyon College are public community colleges of RSCCD, which serve the residents of Anaheim Hills, East Garden Grove, Irvine, Orange, Santa Ana, Tustin and Villa Park. Both colleges provide education for academic transfer and careers, courses for personal and professional development, customized training for business and industry, and programs to train nurses, firefighters and law enforcement personnel.”

Hispanic Heritage Month got off to an especially hospitable and personal start in Aggieland Thursday evening when two longtime Hispanic professor/administrators opened their homes to a host of students—perpetuating a tradition they began four years ago. They now have hopes of expanding the number of participating students and faculty.

Dr. Luis Cifuentes and Dr. Victor Arizpe and their wives, who live next door to one another, welcomed into their homes a host of Aggies—mostly but not all Hispanics—as part of a program known as “Mi Casa Es Su Casa”—translated “my home is your house.”

“Mi Casa Es Su Casa,” part of the Memorial Student Center Committee for the Awareness of Mexican-American Culture ( CAMAC ) at Texas A&M, is primarily intended to develop a support system for freshmen and transfer students, noted Liliana Garcia, the student who chairs MSC-CAMAC this year.

“Mi Casa Es Su Casa” has been kicked off each year with patio dinners at the adjacent homes of Dr. Arizpe, professor of Hispanic studies; his wife, Norma Arizpe, a senior lecturer in Hispanic studies; Dr. Cifuentes, professor of oceanography and interim vice provost, and wife, Dr. Lauren Cifuentes, associate professor of educational psychology.

Other Texas A&M Hispanic faculty members have joined in by hosting every-other-month sessions for smaller student groups throughout the school year.

The faculty members and CAMAC leaders say they hope to expand the program to include even more faculty and more students.

“This program is in a sense having a home away from home for these students, particularly those entering as freshmen or as transfer students,” Cifuentes said, adding that it gives them “a welcoming environment.”

Arizpe agreed, saying “As members of the Mexican American / U.S. Latino Faculty Association ( MALFA ), we have enjoyed coming together to create a welcoming and supportive environment for Hispanic students by bringing them into our homes. One of our primary goals is to let students know that we care for their success at Texas A&M University and that we are here to help.”

Daniel Hernandez, MALFA facilitator this year, joined in the welcoming program and cited its benefits. “The initiative is an excellent opportunity to create significant and value added relationships between students and faculty that will enrich the A&M experience for all concerned. Students in particular will learn the benefits of building relationships that willenhance them academically, socially and professionally,” he noted.

Cifuentes and Arizpe emphasized that the core of the “Mi Casa Es Su Casa” program is the cadre of other volunteer faculty members who take up the hosting and related work after the fall kick-off session.

“Mi Casa Es Su Casa” is receiving funding assistance this year from the Texas A&M Office of Admissions & Records as part of its retention program designed to keep students in school and on track to graduate, Garcia said.
“

The Marquette University College of Education will host Dr. Alberta M. Gloria, a professor of counseling at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as the Association of Marquette University Women’s ( AMUW ) Chair in Humanistic Studies for 2008-2009.

Gloria brings her expertise in the psychological and socio-cultural factors affecting Hispanic and other racial and ethnic minority students in higher education to the position. The AMUW Chair was established in 1963 as a lectureship and endowed in 1989 to support a year-long appointment. The purpose of the chair is to celebrate the humanities and promote the role of women in higher education through bringing distinguished female scholars to campus.

In addition to her faculty role in the Department of Counseling Psychology at UW, Gloria served as the Director for the Chicana/o Latina/o Studies Program. She also served on the faculty of the University of Utah after receiving a doctorate in counseling psychology from Arizona State University. She is a co-editor of The Latina/o Pathway to the Ph.D.: Abriendo Caminos and is currently co-editing What! No Flan? A Reflection of Latina/o Students in Higher Education. She has also published numerous articles in professional journals. She has received several teaching and research awards, including the 2008 Outstanding Latina/o Faculty in Research/Teaching in Higher Education Award from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education.

Gloria will teach a graduate seminar on Latina/os in higher education in the fall. As the AMUW Chair, she will also be responsible for delivering the Eleanor H. Boheim Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities.

Previous holders of the AMUW Chair have included Mary Burgan, former chair of the English Department at Indiana University and past Executive Secretary of the American Association of University Professors; A. Manette Ansay, a prominent author and professor of creative writing; Janine Geske, a former justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court; Judith Mayotte, an internationally renowned peace activist; and, most recently, Karyn Holm, professor of nursing at DePaul University who specializes in cardiovascular nursing, ethics, and women’s health.

Office of Marketing and Communication Contact:

Brigid O’Brien Miller
Director of University Communication
Send e-mail
( 414 ) 288-7445 ( office )
( 414 ) 313-7445 ( cell )”

Rick Rodriguez, former executive editor of the Sacramento Bee, was named Tuesday as the first Carnegie Professor specializing in Latino and transnational news coverage at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “*

MOSI HONORS INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED MOLECULAR BIOLOGIST AS 2008

NATIONAL HISPANIC SCIENTIST OF THE YEAR

***

www.mosi.org/nationalhispanicscientist.html

Tampa, FL (July 22, 2008) – World-renowned molecular biologist and founding member of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff, has been named MOSI’s (Museum of Science & Industry) 2008 National Hispanic Scientist of the Year.

Mexican American, Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff is deeply committed to the recruitment and retention of minorities in science.  As founding member of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, Villa-Komaroff has served as both a board member and vice president of the organization.  She makes frequent presentations to students of all ages and provides lab research opportunities for high school and undergraduate students.  She currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Cytonome, Inc., a company building the first optical cell sorter of human cells for therapeutic use. Villa-Komaroff was a key member of the research team that first demonstrated that bacterial cells could produce insulin, pioneering work that is widely cited in the book “Invisible Frontiers: The Race to Clone the Insulin Gene” by Stephen Hall.

During her 20 year research career, Villa-Komaroff has held positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, University of Massachusetts Medical School and Harvard Medical School.  As a science administrator, she has served as Vice President for Research at Northwestern University in Illinois and the Vice President for Research and Chief Operating Officer of Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“With all of the hardships facing today’s youth, we are honored to celebrate the accomplishments of such a gifted Hispanic professional in science and education who is working to inspire successful career and life choices,” said Wit Ostrenko, MOSI President.

For eight years, MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry) has recognized nationally distinguished Hispanic science and engineering professionals to serve as role models and mentors for Tampa Bay’s Hispanic youth. Past honorees include a former U.S. Surgeon General, a Nobel Laureate of Chemistry, a NASA astronaut, a marine biologist, a Harvard professor of pathology and former chief of immunogenetics at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a seismologist and former director of the Carnegie Academy for Science Education (CASE), Washington, D.C., and most recently, an industrial engineer and the first Hispanic to serve as acting head of the Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation (NSF).

This year MOSI will present the National Hispanic Scientist of the Year Award to Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff during a gala award ceremony on Saturday, October 11, 2008.

The mission of the MOSI National Hispanic Scientist of the Year Award is to recognize outstanding Hispanic scientists who promote a greater public understanding of science and motivate Hispanic youths’ interest in science.  Proceeds from the event help to fund scholarships for at-risk youth who participate in MOSI’s Youth Enriched by Science program.

The Youth Enriched by Science, “YES!” Team, is a career and educational enrichment program designed to help at-risk youth, between the ages 13 to 17, develop and progress in a supportive peer-group environment.  Established in 1992, the focus of the program is to provide an opportunity for students to develop self-confidence, improve communication skills, build self-esteem and exhibit leadership skills.  In addition, students are encouraged and motivated to pursue science both as a career and as an essential element of their total education.  Mentors train students on science education, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, and incorporating their ideas into museum programs.  Since 1996 about 90% of “YES!” Team participants have gone on to attend college.

In the year 2000 the Hispanic dropout rate rested at 27.8%, compared to 7% for White, non-Hispanic students and 13% for Black, non-Hispanic students.^[1] These statistics are significant when considering the rapid population growth experienced by the Hispanic minority group.  Studies show that in the year 2000 Hispanics comprised 12% of the total U.S. population, and it is estimated that this number will increase to 25% by the year 2050.

About MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry)

MOSI is a not-for-profit, community-based institution and educational resource dedicated to advancing public interest, knowledge, and understanding of science, industry, and technology. With a total size of over 300,000 square feet, MOSI is the largest science center in the southeastern United States, and home to the only IMAX^® Dome Theatre in the state of Florida. Kids In Charge! The Children’s Science Center at MOSI is the largest children’s science center in the nation. MOSI’s newest permanent exhibition, Disasterville, featuring Bay News 9 WeatherQuest, combines education and 10,000 square feet of interactive exhibits on the science behind natural disasters.  For more information, visit www.mosi.org.

Former MOSI National Hispanic Scientist of the Year Award honorees

Dr. Louis A. Martin-Vega (2007), industrial engineer; Dr. Inés Cifuentes (2006), seismologist; Dr. Edmond J. Yunis (2005), physician, researcher, Harvard professor; Dr. Antonia Coello Novello (2004), former U.S. Surgeon General; Dr. Mario Molina, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (2003); Fernando “Frank” Caldeiro, NASA Astronaut (2002); and Dr. Alejandro Acevedo-Gutiérrez, Marine Biologist (2001).

Finding Latino/-a voices online will get a little easier thanks to a $10,000 grant to one of our local heroes, Teresa Puente: Columbia College Chicago journalism professor, Chicago Sun-Times editorial board member, and now leader of a blog platform, Latina Voices that will deliver serious news by, for, and about Latina women”*

My friend, Bernardo Ferdman, a professor at Alliant International University, writes about Latino identity, works to develop Latino leaders, and helps organizations hire more Latinos. With Plácida Gallegos, he wrote Identity Orientations of Latinos in the United States: Implications for Leaders and Organizations for The Business Journal of Hispanic Research. We recently talked about issues facing Latino leaders and managers. Edited excerpts of our conversation follow: “*

Doug Woodward, a University of South Carolina economics professor who has studied immigrant labor in the state, said a decline in construction has shifted immigrants from that field to others, preventing any chilling effect from deportation increases or parts of a tough new state immigration law that have gone into effect.

That’s particularly true in the landscaping business, said Steve Crump, the president of the state’s nursery and landscaping association, where three or four immigrants a day are calling his company looking for work.”*

Then he was summoned here by court officials to translate in the hearings for nearly 400 illegal immigrant workers arrested in a raid on May 12 at a meatpacking plant. Since then, Mr. Camayd-Freixas, a professor of Spanish at Florida International University, has taken the unusual step of breaking the code of confidentiality among legal interpreters about their work.

In a 14-page essay he circulated among two dozen other interpreters who worked here, Professor Camayd-Freixas wrote that the immigrant defendants whose words he translated, most of them villagers from Guatemala, did not fully understand the criminal charges they were facing or the rights most of them had waived.”*

A University of California professor spoke to KSU students earlier this summer about Spanish women who migrated from Mexico to what is now the Western United States in the 16 Century to 1900.

Dr. Vicki Ruiz, a Professor of History at the University of California Irvine and recent co-editor of “Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia,” spoke to students May 7 in the Social Science Building.”*

Dr. Octavio N. Martinez Jr., a professor and clinical psychiatrist with experience in finance and banking, has been appointed executive director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at The University of Texas at Austin.

Martinez was selected following a national search for a successor to Dr. King Davis, who resigned as executive director in May to return to teaching full time in the university’s School of Social Work. Martinez will take office on Aug. 11 as the fifth executive director and the first Hispanic to lead the foundation since it was created in 1940. Martinez also will hold an academic appointment in the School of Social Work.”*

Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, an associate professor in the School of Journalism, has spent her career promoting Latino community coverage in the media.

Because of her efforts, Rivas-Rodriguez, who helped found the National Association of Hispanic Journalists in 1982, will be inducted into the association’s hall of fame in July.

In her 17-year career in news media, Rivas-Rodriguez has worked for such publications as The Boston Globe and The Dallas Morning News. “*

Hispanic families now have
a trusted online source in child and adolescent mental health accessible in
Spanish at AboutOurKids.org. The NYU Child Study Center (CSC) has
translated its Web site into Spanish to help this underserved community
find important information about children’s psychiatric and learning
disorders.

“Only one in seven Hispanic children who are affected by psychiatric
and learning disorders get the help they need,” said Harold S. Koplewicz,
M.D., founder and director of the NYU CSC. “We’re committed to bringing the
latest and best information on children’s mental health to all in the
Hispanic community.”

HERE ARE THE FACTS*:

–  Hispanic adolescents have the highest number of suicide attempts among
all ethnic groups in the U.S.
–  Hispanic high school students exhibited the highest rate of sadness or
hopelessness according to one study assessing risk behavior in high
school students.
–  Hispanic youth have higher levels of emotional distress because of the
pressures to rapidly adopt the values of their new culture.
–  Hispanic teens evidence high rates of substance abuse and increasing
rates of juvenile justice involvement.
–  Few Spanish-speaking or Latino mental health professionals exist.
“This is a community that we can help by providing accurate and timely
information in a user-friendly format that can be easily understood by
parents,” said Raul R. Silva, M.D., vice-chair of the NYU Child Study
Center and associate professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
“Concerned that your child is anxious or depressed? Worried that your child
is abnormally thin? Things not going well at school? Where can you find
help? It’s all there at AboutOurKids.org en Espanol.”

The new site offers visitors translated articles and tips from renowned
CSC experts on a variety of relevant issues ranging from suicide and
depression to discipline and obesity. Helpful features such as the “A-Z
Disorder Guide” and links to other web sites and essential resources allow
Spanish-speaking visitors to quickly locate important information with the
click of a mouse.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

New York University Child Study Center is the nation’s leading
organization for research, prevention and treatment of child and adolescent
psychiatric and learning disorders. Through science-based clinical care,
cutting-edge research, expert professional training, and extensive public
education, the Center strives to generate new knowledge about child mental
health, improve the practices of healthcare professionals who serve
children, and influence child-related public health policy. Most
importantly, the Center provides hope, help and care to children and their
families who suffer from these disorders.

The NYU Child Study Center is committed to giving children back their
childhood. To learn more, visit AboutOurKids.org.

*All statistics sourced from The American Psychiatric Association

“*

The struggles of Latino families in America are the focus of a new movie premiering this week at the CineVegas Film Festival. A UNLV professor says he made the film to open the public’s eyes about what life is like for immigrants once they come to the U.S.

The movie is called “Primo” — in English that means cousin. It’s about three cousins who were separated as children during the civil war in El Salvador. Their journey through life brings them here to Las Vegas.”*