Bill Text: TX SR185 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending Diana Natalicio for her service as president of The University of Texas at El Paso.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Passed) 2019-02-13 - Reported enrolled [SR185 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-SR185-Enrolled.html
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| 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 | ||
