Bill Text: TX HR277 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 3rd Special Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: In memory of The University of Texas at El Paso president emerita Dr. Diana Natalicio.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-10-26 - Reported enrolled [HR277 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HR277-Enrolled.html
| H.R. No. 277 | ||
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| WHEREAS, The passing of The University of Texas at El Paso | ||
| president emerita Dr. Diana Natalicio on September 24, 2021, at the | ||
| age of 82, has deeply saddened the many people whose lives were | ||
| touched by her inspiring leadership and steadfast commitment to | ||
| education; 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, Through her trailblazing achievements and numerous | ||
| civic contributions, Diana Natalicio made a lasting, positive | ||
| difference in the lives of countless students, and she will forever | ||
| be remembered with deep admiration by all who were privileged to | ||
| know her; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas | ||
| Legislature, 3rd Called Session, hereby pay tribute to the memory | ||
| of Dr. Diana Natalicio and extend heartfelt sympathy to her loved | ||
| ones and friends; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
| prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of | ||
| Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Dr. Diana | ||
| Natalicio. | ||
| Ortega | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Speaker of the House | ||
| I certify that H.R. No. 277 was unanimously adopted by a | ||
| rising vote of the House on October 18, 2021. | ||
| ______________________________ | ||
| Chief Clerk of the House | ||
