Contact: Anthony de Bruyn, (512) 499-4363

Date: June 21, 2004

Blandina Cardenas Named President of UT Pan American

AUSTIN – Blandina Cardenas, dean of the College of Education and Human Development (COEHD) at the University of Texas at San Antonio, UT System's third-largest campus, was named president of the University of Texas – Pan American on Monday (June 21) by the UT System Board of Regents.

Cardenas, a professor of educational leadership, was unanimously selected from among six finalists to succeed President Miguel Nevárez, who announced his retirement from the presidency last year after serving the institution for the past 32 years. 

The appointment was made after the regents interviewed six finalists on Monday.

“Cardenas brings to the presidency of UT Pan American an extraordinary record of service and achievement as a higher education leader, and she has a deep understanding of the complex role that universities play in today's society, as centers of research and education and as partners in economic development,” said James Richard Huffines, chairman of the Board of Regents. “We believe that she is the right person to lead UT Pan American into a new era of prominence in Texas and the nation.”

As dean, Cardenas has led UTSA's newly established COEHD to excellence, including raising the pass rates for teacher certification exams to 97 percent; introducing new standards-based programs; generating more than $8 million in external funding; and developing strong partnerships with San Antonio's inner-city schools. In addition to faculty positions at UTSA and Texas State University at San Marcos, Cardenas has served in a number of organizations focused on multiculturalism, education, and families: director of the Hispanic Research Center at UTSA (1999-2000); director of Office of Minorities in Higher Education, American Council on Education (1989-1992); member, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (1980-1992); and chief of the Children's Bureau and commissioner of the Administration for Children, Youth and Families in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (1977-1999).

“During his long and accomplished tenure, President Nevárez led UT Pan American to new heights, consistently improving the 77-year-old institution's service to the people of the Rio Grande Valley. With his long career in education and service, I am confident that Dr. Cardenas is a worthy successor to Dr. Nevárez and will take UT Pan American to the next level in terms of teaching its students, increasing research, and developing its important role as a regional institution,” said Mark G. Yudof, chancellor of the UT System.

Cardenas, who was inducted in 1992 into “El Orden del Aguila Azteca,” the highest honor bestowed by the Mexican government on a non-citizen, holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and a doctoral degree in educational leadership and administration from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

The University of Texas – Pan American is one of nine academic universities and six health institutions that comprise the University of Texas System, the state's largest higher education system. The UT System confers one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates three-fourths of the state's health care professionals annually. UT Pan American is the 10th largest university in the state and the fifth largest in the UT System. It is second in the nation in the number of bachelor's degrees and fourth in the number of master's degrees awarded to Hispanics and is ranked second in the nation by Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education's list of the 100 best U.S. colleges for Hispanics.

Links:

Biography

Vitae

High Resolution Photo 1

High Resolution Photo 2

UT Pan American website

Photos (candids) from the meeting

Archived webcast of the meeting of the Board of Regents

Archived webcast of the post-meeting media availability

Related news releases:

Finalists named for president of UT Pan American (4/19/04)

Advisory Committee Named for Presidential Search at UT Pan American (10/29/03)