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Vélez-Ibáñez honored by Hispanic higher ed association


March 02, 2010

Arizona State University professor Carlos Vélez-Ibáñez will be honored by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) with its Outstanding Support of Hispanic Issues in Higher Education Award.

Vélez-Ibáñez, an anthropologist and chair of the Department of Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, conducts transnational field research in two rural valleys in California and New Mexico and their sending communities in Mexico. His area of study focuses on applied anthropology, complex social organizations, culture and education, ethno-class relations in complex social systems, migration and adaptation of human populations, political ecology, qualitative methodology and urban anthropology.

The publications of Vélez-Ibáñez are numerous and include the 1996 book “Border Visions: Mexican Cultures of the Southwest United States.”

Vélez-Ibáñez, who came to ASU in 2005, most recently spearheaded the research effort for “The State of Latino Arizona,” a major study of Latino issues in Arizona that sheds light on the past and present. The study was completed by the Arizona Latino Research Enterprise and Arizona State University.

According to AAHHE President Loui Olivas, an assistant vice president at ASU, Vélez-Ibáñez was selected for the award by a panel of experts in higher education. The selection criteria focused on the recipient’s sustained contributions and efforts to showcase the significant accomplishments this award represents.

Each year, this award is given to an individual in the community who has demonstrated outstanding accomplishment and support of Hispanic issues.

“I am most gratified by this high honor for the modest contributions of which I have been a part,” said Vélez-Ibáñez. “These were the result of the work of many and to them and to future generations I dedicate this award.”

To celebrate and recognize the work of Hispanics in higher education and other national leaders, the AAHHE awards program was created to honor individuals at a special awards luncheon, this year on March 6 at the national conference in Costa Mesa, Calif.

“AAHHE is an agent of change for improving education, thus enabling Hispanic students to fully participate in a diverse society,” Olivas said. It works collaboratively with education, business and industry sectors, as well as community and professional organizations to enhance the educational aspirations and to meet the professional growth needs of a significantly increasing Hispanic population.

More information is online at http://www.aahhe.org.