UTEP Communication Professor Earns National Honor
Last Updated on November 26, 2019 at 12:00 AM
Originally published November 26, 2019
By UC Staff
UTEP Communications
The Latina/o Communication Studies Division and La Raza Caucus of the National Communication Association recently recognized The University of Texas at El Paso’s Frank G. Pérez, Ph.D., associate professor of communication, for his outstanding scholarship and contributions to his field to include a recently published book that he co-authored.
Pérez earned the 2019 Córdova-Puchot Scholar of the Year Award during the association’s annual conference Nov. 13-17 in Baltimore, Maryland. The educator, an active member of the division since 1998, co-wrote “Decolonizing Eurocentric Tourism and Heritage Narratives in Mexican American Communities: Juan de Oñate as a West Texas Icon.” The other author is Carlos F. Ortega, a lecturer in UTEP’s Chicano Studies program.
The UTEP professor said what made the award extra special was that its namesakes – Ignacio "Nacho" Córdoba and Raymond Puchot – were very dear friends and mentors before their premature deaths. He said both left an indelible mark on the division and caucus.
“I am honored to receive this important national recognition of my scholarly work and contributions to the field,” said Pérez, who called the association his intellectual home for more than 20 years. He said that he visits the division annually “to be with a community of scholars whose friendship, mentoring, and collaboration enriches my research and pedagogy. I am humbled by my selection for this honor and to be part of such a distinguished group of Latinx scholars.”
Pérez has served as a member of the group’s executive committee to include one year as division chair. Since 2016, he has served on the division’s mentoring initiative. The association is the largest national scholarly society devoted to the study of human communication.
