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Two higher education leaders win campus Kerr awards

By Public Affairs

headshots of a man and a woman
Diana Natalicio, left, president of the University of Texas at El Paso, and Freeman Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, both won Clark Kerr awards. (Courtesy images)
headshots of a man and a woman

Diana Natalicio, left, president of the University of Texas at El Paso, and Freeman Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, both won Clark Kerr awards. (Courtesy images)

Two higher education leaders were recognized by UC Berkeley’s Division of the Academic Senate for their “extraordinary and distinguished contributions to the advancement of higher education.”

Diana Natalicio, president of the University of Texas at El Paso, and Freeman Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, both won Clark Kerr Awards, which are named in tribute to the leadership and legacy of former UC President Clark Kerr.

During her time as president at the University of Texas at El Paso, Natalicio has seen enrollment grow from 15,000 to 25,000 students, more than 80% of whom are Mexican American. The school’s budget has also increased from $65 million to more than $500 million, and annual research expenditures have grown from $6 million to nearly $95 million per year.

Hrabowski, meanwhile, has designed and implemented programs at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County that draw minority students into the STEM fields and combine innovative pedagogy with academic and social support.

Read more about the winners