SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 46
 
 
  In Memory
  of
  Diana Natalicio
 
         WHEREAS, An exemplary life dedicated to educational
  opportunity for all has drawn to a close with the death of The
  University of Texas at El Paso president emerita Dr. Diana
  Natalicio on September 24, 2021, at the age of 82; 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, Diana Natalicio earned the respect and admiration
  of all who knew her for her vision, her dedication, and her
  commitment to a high-quality education for every American, and
  she leaves behind a legacy that will resonate in El Paso and
  beyond for years to come; now, therefore, be it
 
         RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 87th
  Legislature, 3rd Called Session, hereby pay tribute to the life
  and achievements of Dr. Diana Natalicio and extend sincere
  condolences to her family and to her many friends and colleagues;
  and, be it further
 
         RESOLVED, That an official copy of this Resolution be
  prepared for her family and that when the Texas Senate adjourns
  this day, it do so in memory of Dr. Diana Natalicio.
 
  Blanco
   
   
   
    ________________________________ 
        President of the Senate
     
        I hereby certify that the
    above Resolution was adopted by
    the Senate on October 14, 2021, by
    a rising vote.
   
   
   
    ________________________________ 
        Secretary of the Senate
   
   
   
    ________________________________ 
         Member, Texas Senate