TIMELINE: 90 YEARS OF HISTORY 1980s

1980 - UTEP colors changed to include Columbia blue   1983 - UTEP leads nation among schools producing Hispanic engineers   1987 - Vice President George Bush speaks at May commencement

Significant events in UTEP history * Significant events in El Paso history ** Significant events in national or world history 1980 Men's track and field team wins NCAA Outdoor and Indoor National Championships Men's cross-country team wins NCAA National Championship Haskell M. Monroe, Jr. named UTEP president Tradition of fall and spring convocations begins UTEP colors changed to include Columbia blue * El Paso County population: 480,000 ** Mt. St. Helens erupts 1981 Men's track and field team wins NCAA Outdoor and Indoor National Championships Men's cross-country team wins NCAA National Championship President Monroe creates Presidential Scholarship program Professor Emeritus Wilbert H. Timmons originates Four Centuries '81 celebration of El Paso's history Student Union allowed to sell beer and wine * Native El Pasoan Sandra Day O'Connor is first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court ** Iran releases U.S. hostages ** IBM launches IBM PC 1982 Men's track and field team wins NCAA Outdoor and Indoor National Championships Ground breaking of University Library Sun Bowl addition raises seating capacity to 52,000 ** Tomas Keneally publishes Schindler's List 1983 Men's cross-country team wins NCAA National Championship UTEP leads nation among schools producing Hispanic engineers ** Sally Ride is first American woman in space 1984 Six-story University Library completed Women's Center opens ** Macintosh computer launched 1985 Miner football team shocks defending national champion BYU 23-16 ** Mexico City earthquake kills 7,000 1986 UTEP recognized as the leader in U.S.-Mexico cooperative research ** Space Shuttle Challenger explodes ** Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster 1987 Vice President George Bush speaks at May commencement ** World's stock markets crash 1988 Diamond Jubilee Celebration begins Diana Natalicio becomes first woman UTEP president National Science Foundation recognizes UTEP with a Minority Research Center of Excellence Grant Miners lose to Southern Mississippi 38-18 in 13th annual Independence Bowl * Suzie Azar is first woman mayor of El Paso ** Terrorist bomb destroys Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland 1989 Second doctoral program approved—Electrical Engineering * Cohen baseball stadium dedicated ** Tiananmen Square uprising in Beijing