TIME: Natalicio among world's most influential

She began her academic journey working part time as a secretary — typing and taking dictation and studying at home. She came to El Paso in 1971 as a visiting associate professor. And she became president of the University of Texas at El Paso in 1988, taking over a small university with not quite 15,000 students.

This week, Diana Natalicio was named to the 2016 TIME 100 — TIME magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. U.S.Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro wrote a short profile of Natalicio for the magazine.

"Brainpower is the new currency of success in the 21st century global economy. And that currency is even more precious—and sadly elusive—for far too many first-generation low-income college students. No one understands this better than Diana Natalicio," Castro wrote.

The annual TIME 100 list was released Thursday and those recognized will be honored at a dinner later this year in New York. The list also includes Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, the former Fort Bliss commanding general, along with Pope Francis, U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and U.S. presidential candidates Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

It has been an amazing journey for that young girl from St. Louis, and it most certainly has been an influential trek. Under Natalicio's leadership, UTEP's enrollment has gone from nearly 15,000 to more than 23,000. The annual budget has ballooned from $65 million to $450 million. The university has been designated as a research/doctoral university and has been nationally recognized under her guidance. Research expenditures have grown from $6 million a year to more than $90 million a year, and doctoral programs have grown from one to 20.

"President Natalicio is a national leader in higher education, particularly for her work with first-generation college students, and her innovative approaches have been replicated with great success across the country. She models leadership and dedication and I applaud TIME for recognizing her remarkable contributions."I could not be more proud of President Natalicio for this much-deserved distinction," University of Texas System Chancellor William H. McRaven said. " 'Influential' is the perfect word to describe a career educator and there is no doubt that President Natalicio's life work has opened up a world of limitless possibilities for thousands upon thousands of students.

In an interview, Natalicio, 76, once told UTEP history Professor Charles Martin that she "came out here and fell in love with the place; just loved El Paso."

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Her vision for UTEP has been huge and unwavering ever since.

"I am both humbled and deeply honored to have been named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world,” Natalicio said. “The work that I have done would not have been possible without the creativity and courage of UTEP faculty and staff, the high aspirations and hard work of our talented students, and the support of our many alumni and friends, all of whom have enabled UTEP to successfully combine academic and research excellence with genuine access and equity."

"The only doctoral/research university in the United States that serves a predominantly Mexican-American student population, UTEP is known for successfully developing innovative strategies that level the playing field for students from historically underrepresented cultures and socio-economic backgrounds," she said.

"This 2016 TIME 100 recognition shines a spotlight on the capacity of urban and minority-serving universities to increase both undergraduate and graduate student success in U.S. higher education. I am grateful to TIME for amplifying UTEP’s story and our leadership role,” Natalicio added.

Natalicio has served on numerous national committees and has been fiercely involved in every step of her vision for a bigger and bolder and brighter UTEP.

The president of Mexico presented her the Orden Mexicana del Aguila Azteca in 2011, the highest recognition bestowed on foreign nationals. She received the Carnegie Corp. of New York Academic Leadership Award in 2015, a tribute to UTEP's transformation into a national public research institution.
Natalicio has also received the TIAA-CREF Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for leadership excellence, the Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education and she was also inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame. Natalicio was appointed to the Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for Hispanic Americans by President George H.W. Bush and was appointed to the National Science Board by President Bill Clinton.

"President Natalicio’s impact on UT El Paso is immeasurable," UT System Board of Regents Chairman Paul L. Foster said. "She has spent more than four decades at this institution and has dedicated her life and her unparalleled talent and intellect toward its success. She has led some of the nation’s largest and most influential higher education organizations and committees and her opinion is sought after by policymakers, legislators and university leaders across the nation and beyond. That she is one of the world’s most influential people will come as no surprise to her peers around the nation, nor to her students and colleagues at UTEP and the UT System.

"We are thrilled that TIME is recognizing her for her extraordinary accomplishments,” Foster added.

UTEP centennial: Natalicio reflects on 26 years

Perhaps nothing has helped forge Natalicio's academic visions more than her own beginning to this journey.

She went to public schools in St. Louis, and was a commuter student at Saint Louis University. She lived at home and worked part time as a secretary. She was the first in her family to attend college.

"My father had wanted very much for me to be well prepared for the job market when I was in high school," she told Martin years ago. "So I took typing and shorthand and worked my way through college. I have always had a good deal of sensitivity to our students because I was very much like them — as a commuter and as a working student."

She was an honor student at Saint Louis and, as a senior, was among a group asked to apply for fellowships. She applied for a Fulbright, "thinking under no circumstances I would get a Fulbright." And she got a Fulbright fellowship to study in Brazil.

Her first time on an airplane was her trip to Rio de Janeiro to study. She spent two years there, learning the language and was recruited to the University of Texas at Austin as a teacher's assistant in Portuguese. She got her master's in Portuguese in 1964.

She then received a Gulbenkian Foundation scholarship and spent 18 months living in Portugal, studying the literature of Portuguese Africa. She returned to Austin and received her Ph.D. in linguistics in 1969. She spent another year at Texas as a research associate. And then she made that trip to El Paso.

After a year as a visiting associate professor, Natalicio said she was offered a tenure track in linguistics and modern languages and she recalled saying, "Yes, I'd love to."

Natalicio served as department chair, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and vice president of the university. The educational and academic journey has been long and joyful and wonderful.

So many years ago, this young woman was typing and taking dictation, trying to pay her way through college. Someone was giving her dictation and little did that someone know he was giving dictation to a woman who would one day be one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Quite a journey. And the journey continues.

Bill Knight may be reached at 546-6171; bknight@elpasotimes.com; @BillKnightept on Twitter.

Name: Diana Natalicio (born Diana Siedhoff; Natalicio is the surname of her ex-husband)

Age: 76

Education: Bachelor's in Spanish, Saint Louis University; studied Portuguese in Brazil on a Fulbright Scholarship; master's in Portuguese and doctorate in linguistics, University of Texas at Austin

Career: Served as vice president for academic affairs, dean of liberal arts, chairwoman of the modern languages department and professor of linguistics at UTEP; named president of UTEP in 1988

Boards: Hispanic Scholarship, Rockefeller Foundation, Trinity Industries, Sandia Corp., U.S.-Mexico Foundation for Science, American Council on Education, National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering

Appointments: Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans by President George H.W. Bush; and National Science Board by President Bill Clinton

Awards and accolades: Academic Leadership Award, Carnegie Corp. of New York, 2015; Orden Mexicana del Aguila Azteca, president of Mexico, 2011; Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership Excellence; and the Harold W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education; Texas Women's Hall of Fame

Fun fact: Natalicio, who was born in St. Louis, is an avid Cardinals baseball fan and often jokes that her dream job would be to serve as baseball commissioner.