Natalicio Institute’s Executive Director Named Influential Education Scholar
For the second year in a row, Anne-Marie Nuñez, Ph.D., inaugural executive director of the Diana Natalicio Institute for Hispanic Student Success, has been named to the annual Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings.
The rankings, which are announced by Education Week, a news organization that covers K-12 education, names the top 200 university-based scholars in the United States who most shaped educational practice and policy over the previous year.
“One of UTEP’s goals is to shape the future of higher education. I see the Diana Natalicio Institute for Hispanic Student Success as having a critical responsibility in supporting UTEP’s achievement of that goal,” said Nuñez. “Being recognized in this way affirms UTEP’s potential and capacity to shape the future of national policy and practices in the higher education landscape.”
First produced in 2010, the rankings identify scholars through calculations that take into consideration the number of widely cited publications and books a scholar has authored; the total number of times a scholar was mentioned in Congress, newspapers and leading publications that cover education; and how often a scholar’s work is used in university courses around the world.
Nuñez’s standing as one of the first and most prolific researchers on Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Latino student success contributed heavily to her presence on the Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. One publication in particular, an op-ed she co-authored, titled Let’s Teach Computer Science Majors to Be Good Citizens, gained widespread attention for its findings. In the piece, Nuñez and her collaborators showed that HSIs had succeeded in integrating initiatives that developed computer science majors’ cultural engagement, global citizenship and consciousness, and that these approaches could be applied at other universities.
Nuñez’s selection marks the first time that UTEP, the only open access R1 institution in the nation, has been featured in the Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings. It is also among the first times that an institution that was an HSI — prior to becoming an R1 — has been represented in this list.
“Early in my career, I saw the power Hispanic-Serving Institutions hold in providing access to post-secondary education and I wanted to raise awareness about HSIs and highlight the ability these institutions have to serve students who might not otherwise pursue higher education,” said Nuñez. “For me, this recognition means we have made headway in broadening the discourse of institutional diversity in higher education and demonstrating the value HSIs offer when it comes to expanding access to an excellent education.”
Last Updated on January 26, 2024 at 12:00 AM | Originally published January 26, 2024
By Mario Vazquez UTEP Marketing and Communications
