After 17 succesful, growth-filled years at the helm of the University of Houston-Downtown, Dr. Max Castillo is stepping down as President. The UH Board of Regents has placed their stamp of approval on the next president, William Flores.
As is customary, some Chron commenter will ask, I’m sure, about his qualifications, since he is, you know, Latino (there’s a lot of that going on nowadays, in case you haven’t noticed):
Flores previously was interim president and provost at New Mexico State University, following a six-year stint as executive vice president and provost there.From 1996 to 2001, Flores was a dean and professor of political science at Cal State Northridge. He previously taught at Cal State Fresno, where he was associate dean of the School of Social Sciences and, prior to that, chairman of the department of Chicano-Latin American Studies. He also has taught at Stanford, Santa Clara University and Cal State Hayward. He received a Rockefeller Fellowship for Scholarship in the Humanities in 1993 and spent a year as a visiting scholar at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, City University of New York.He has a Ph.D. from Stanford University in social theory and public policy and a master’s degree in political science from Stanford. He graduated cum laude from the University of California at Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in political science.Flores has directed several community service programs, including having served as associate director and interim executive director of Gardner Community Health Center in San Jose, Calif., 1981-84. He has served as co-editor of “Latino Cultural Citizenship: Claiming Identity, Space and Rights,” published by Beacon Press. He has also served on the board of the Pacific Chapter of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce and has been active in numerous community organizations.
And a PoliSci guy, too. Not bad at all! Congrats to President Flores.
