MinerAlert
MinerAlert
Thank you for joining us in honoring President Emerita Diana Natalicio's enduring impact and celebrate the future of the Diana Natalicio Institute for Hispanic Student Success.
Explore photos, reflections, and a full recap of the day on our post-event page.
The Diana Natalicio Impact & Legacy Celebration brings together campus and community for a series of events celebrating Dr. Diana Natalicio’s influence on higher education and the future-focused work her leadership continues to inspire. Through conversations, reflection, and shared learning - from an open house to a panel discussion and inaugural lecture - the celebration invites participants to engage with ideas, leaders, and models that advance opportunity, student success, and institutional transformation. Throughout the series, attendees will also be introduced to the work of the Diana Natalicio Institute for Hispanic Student Success and its role in advancing this vision. We encourage participants to join one or more events as part of a collective moment of reflection, connection, and forward momentum.
Join the celebration on January 22, 2026, as we honor impact, legacy, and the future of opportunity in higher education.
Guests are invited to visit the home of the newly established Diana Natalicio Institute for Hispanic Student Success. The open house will offer an opportunity to tour the new space and enjoy coffee and light refreshments.
Higher education’s future will be shaped by institutions willing to learn from what has worked, examine it with rigor, and scale it with intention. This panel brings together institutional leaders and scholars to examine how UTEP has strategically advanced opportunity, and why this model matters for the future of higher education.
Through multiple lenses (internal institutional change, scholarly insight, and national leadership) the conversation will explore how universities can move from aspiration to action, using evidence, leadership, and place-based innovation to expand access and student success. Attendees will gain perspective on why opportunity-centered transformation is not only possible, but essential for higher education’s next era.
This session will also introduce the work of the Diana Natalicio Institute for Hispanic Student Success as an engine of knowledge advancing systems of opportunity.
A book signing by Dr. Hrabowski will follow the panel.
Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President Emeritus of UMBC (The University of Maryland, Baltimore County) served as president from 1992 to 2022. His research and publications focus on science and math education, with special emphasis on minority participation and performance. He chaired the National Academies’ committee that produced the 2011 report, Expanding Underrepresented Minority Participation: America’s Science and Technology Talent at the Crossroads. He was named in 2012 by President Obama to chair the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans. His 2013 TED talk highlights the “Four Pillars of College Success in Science.” In 2022, Dr. Hrabowski was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and he was also named the inaugural ACE Centennial Fellow. In addition, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) also launched the Freeman Hrabowski Scholars Program, committing $1.5 billion to help build a scientific workforce that more fully reflects our increasingly diverse country. In October 2022, he was named the inaugural Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture Speaker by Harvard. In April 2023, The National Academy of Sciences awarded him the Public Welfare Medal, the Academy’s most prestigious award, and inducted him as a member of the academy for his extraordinary use of science for the public good. In November 2025, Sigma Xi, the scientific research honors society, inducted him as a member and awarded him the John P. McGovern Science & Society Award for “playing a pivotal role in improving science and mathematics education.”
Dr. Núñez’s visionary scholarship employs sociological approaches to examine how to design organizations and systems to broaden postsecondary educational opportunities. She has published several studies on the higher education experiences and trajectories of Latine, first-generation, English Learner, working, and migrant students. As a national expert on Hispanic-Serving Institutions, her co-edited book, Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Advancing Research and Transformative Practice, won an International Latino Book Award.
She has led and collaborated on over $30 million of funded projects to advance educational effectiveness, experiential learning, and community engagement in computing and geoscience fields, particularly in Hispanic-Serving Institutions. An American Educational Research Association Fellow, she has also been recognized in Education Week’s Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings as among the top 200 scholars in the U.S. influencing educational practice and policy. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Education for her outstanding scholarship and leadership related to education.
John Wiebe, Ph.D. has served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) since March of 2020. Prior to his appointment to that position, he served the institution for 22 years in other roles.
As Provost, Dr. Wiebe is the University’s chief academic officer and collaborates with deans, faculty, staff and senior administration across the campus to develop and promote UTEP's nationally recognized model for enhancing the excellence of its academic and research programs, while successfully offering access and affordability to a predominantly first-generation and historically underserved student population. As a member of the President’s cabinet, Dr. Wiebe plays a key role in planning and policy development for the university, and strategic campus initiatives such as the UTEP Edge, a student success initiative that seeks to integrate high-impact practices with the goal of preparing students for leadership and success, both on campus and beyond.
Dr. Doran joined UTEP in 2024 with a research background in Latinx students, community colleges, community college faculty, and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). Before joining UTEP, Dr. Doran was an associate professor at Iowa State University, where she earned tenure in 2022. Her scholarship has been recognized by the National Science Foundation through a grant while at Iowa State, the NASPA Community Colleges Division with the NASPA Research and Scholarship Community College Award, the Council for the Study of Community Colleges with the Barbara K. Townsend Emerging Scholar Award, and by the Spencer Foundation.
Dr. Gonzalez has dedicated her career to the transformation of higher education in support of public and community engaged scholarship, faculty development, community partnerships, student high-impact practices, and the overall alignment of institutional priorities for public impact. As the Director of Partnerships and Operations at the Natalicio Institute, Dr. Gonzalez leverages this experience to turn our strategic vision and insights into repeatable actions at national scale. She concurrently serves as the Executive Director for the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities (hsru.org).
Through the generosity of the Shiloff Family, the Diana Natalicio Institute for Hispanic Student Success carries forward the vision and values of Dr. Diana Natalicio. The Shiloff Family Lecture Series welcomes leading voices to campus and community to deepen understanding, inspire dialogue, and generate action around the future of higher education.
The Natalicio Institute proudly presents the inaugural Shiloff Family Lecture, featuring Freeman A. Hrabowski III , one of the nation’s most respected and influential voices in higher education.
A former university president and internationally recognized leader, Dr. Hrabowski is widely known for advancing inclusive excellence and reimagining the role of universities in times of change. Drawing on themes from his newest book, The Resilient University , he will offer a compelling vision for how institutions can respond to today’s challenges with clarity, courage, and purpose—strengthening their capacity to expand opportunity and advance student success.
Known for his clarity, warmth, and ability to inspire action, Dr. Hrabowski brings a vision of higher education that resonates deeply with UTEP’s mission and history. This inaugural lecture invites campus and community audiences to reflect on what is possible when universities lead with intention and an unwavering commitment to opportunity.
A book signing and a networking reception will follow the lecture.