[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17663-17664]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 IN RECOGNITION OF DR. DIANA S. NATALICIO, PRESIDENT OF UNIVERSITY OF 
                            TEXAS AT EL PASO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Reyes) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Dr. Diana S. 
Natalicio, an outstanding individual and role model in both the 
Hispanic and academic community.
  Dr. Natalicio is currently president of the University of Texas at El 
Paso, otherwise known as UTEP, a position that she has held since 1988. 
She received her bachelor's degree in Spanish from St. Louis 
University; her master's degree in Portuguese; and a doctorate in 
linguistics was awarded by the University of Texas at Austin.
  In 1961, she was a Fulbright Scholar in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and 
in 1964, she was a visiting scholar in Lisbon, Portugal. After serving 
as a research associate at the Center for Communication Research at the 
University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Natalicio joined the faculty of UTEP 
in 1971 as a part-time assistant professor. She quickly rose to the 
rank of associate professor and then professor.
  In addition to her teaching responsibilities in the Department of 
Linguistics and Modern Languages, she has served UTEP in numerous 
administrative capacities, including chairman of Modern Languages, 
associate dean and dean of Liberal Arts, vice president for Academic 
Affairs, interim president, and finally as president in today's 
capacity.
  Dr. Natalicio has served on numerous boards and commissions, 
appointed to those boards and commissions by President Clinton, former 
President Bush, and Governor Bush as well. Some of them are the 
National Science Board, NASA Advisory Council, the Fund for the 
Improvement of Postsecondary Education, the ``America Reads Challenge'' 
Steering Committee, the Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence 
and many, many others that are important in her role as president of a 
dynamic university.
  Dr. Natalicio has received countless awards and honors, which include 
the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education, the Outstanding 
Contribution to Education Award by the Hispanic and Business Alliance 
for Education, the Humanitarian Award from the

[[Page 17664]]

League of United Latin American Citizens, and the distinguished 
Professional Women's Award.

                              {time}  1245

  In 1999, Mr. Speaker, Dr. Natalicio was inducted into the Texas 
Women's Hall of Fame. She has also written numerous books, articles and 
reviews in the field of applied linguistics.
  Under Dr. Natalicio's leadership, UTEP has become the largest 
Hispanic majority university in the Nation. Its budget has increased 
from $64 million in 1988 to over $146 million today, and its doctoral 
programs have grown from 1 to 8 programs and it is still growing.
  In the last decade, Dr. Natalicio has been an effective and 
increasingly influential individual in raising the visibility and the 
funding of the University of Texas at El Paso.
  Dr. Natalicio began visiting Washington, D.C. some 10 years ago in an 
attempt to solicit Federal research dollars. At the time, Dr. Natalicio 
today reflects, they did not even know who UTEP was. I had to go and 
create an identity for the institution in Washington, D.C.
  UTEP's Federal research grants have increased to $53 million last 
year from $3.5 million in 1987. The university spent some $27.8 million 
in 1999 moving up to fifth place among the State's 35 public academic 
universities in actual expenditures for Federal money.
  Dr. Natalicio has constantly pushed UTEP towards becoming a Tier 1 
research university. In May of 1997, under the leadership of Dr. 
Natalicio, UTEP embarked on an unprecedented fund-raising effort called 
the Legacy Campaign, an initiative which, to date, has raised some $50 
million in new endowments, tripling the university's total endowment 
from $25 million to over $75 million today.
  Within one year, Dr. Natalicio has announced that the university's 
Legacy Campaign has raised $45 million, 95 percent of its goal. This 
generous financial commitment has resulted in the creation of more than 
200 new endowments, including 80 newly endowed scholarships; 26 new 
professorships and chairs; and 48 new departmental excellence funds.
  Dr. Natalicio's efforts to expand UTEP's Development and Alumni 
Affairs office has resulted in a steady increase in annual giving to 
the university. Dr. Natalicio further is proud of the accomplishments 
and can be traced to the courageous decisions and an appreciation for 
the contributions of others. She has been an instrumental force in 
transforming UTEP from a regional institution to an international 
university whose vision is outward and whose growth and phenomenal 
success in garnering additional funds for new programs are the envy of 
other universities. She is responsible for developing, during radically 
changing times, an atmosphere in which students, faculty, and staff are 
stimulated, inspired, and challenged.

                          ____________________