H.R. No. 119

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS, Diana Natalicio announced her retirement as president of The University of Texas at El Paso in May 2018, and as she prepares to conclude her remarkable three-decade tenure in office, it is indeed fitting to recognize her enormous accomplishments; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Natalicio joined the UTEP 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 for 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, UTEP'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, UTEP had a single doctoral program; today, it offers 22, and the institution's reputation for excellence has helped capture significant research funding, including more than $94 million annually from such agencies as the U.S. 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 infrastructure related to student quality of life; in 2018, UTEP 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 numerous organizations, among them the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, the Rockefeller Foundation, Trinity Industries, Sandia Corporation, the U.S.-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 St. 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 UTEP while making the university more responsive to the needs of residents of the Paso del Norte region, striking a balance few institutions have achieved, and her tremendous contributions to higher education will continue to resonate for decades to come; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas Legislature hereby commend 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 an official copy of this resolution be prepared for Dr. Natalicio as an expression of high regard by the Texas House of Representatives.

Ortega Moody González of El Paso Blanco Fierro

______________________________ Speaker of the House

I certify that H.R. No. 119 was adopted by the House on February 13, 2019, by a non-record vote.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House