According to a UNM press release, Associate Provost Virginia Scharff recently announced the appointment of Professor Gabriel Meléndez as director of the Center for Regional Studies, effective March 1.
According to its website, the center focuses on efforts to increase understanding of New Mexico, the border region of the U.S., the Americas and Spain.
“I am very pleased to have Gabriel join UNM’s leadership team,” Scharff was quoted as saying in the press release. “He is a highly accomplished scholar and distinguished professor in American Studies. His record of exemplary leadership, service and support of student success made him an ideal choice for the position.”
According to the release, Meléndez is a distinguished UNM professor and former chair of the Department of American Studies at UNM.
After obtaining his doctorate from UNM in 1984, Melendez taught at the University of Utah and at Mills College before returning to Albuquerque to complete a Rockefeller Humanities Fellowship at the Southwest Hispanic Research Institute in 1991, according to the release. Melendez joined the American Studies faculty in 1994, and is a well-established scholar of southwest borderland studies.
“I am excited about this opportunity and look forward to working with the center’s staff and faculty to advance research and scholarship on southwest borderland topics,” Meléndez is quoted as saying in the release. “I also look forward to building on the efforts of Interim Director Aracely Chapa to create new programs, seek fundraising and foster campus partnerships to enhance CRS’ mission and goals.”
According to the release, Meléndez has more than 10 years of administrative experience along with a successful record of placing undergraduate and graduate students in careers in higher education and other professions.
While at UNM, he has been at the forefront of efforts to make the University a standout minority/majority-serving institution, according to the release. Melendez has also served as co-chair of the Title V Faculty Advisory Board, as well as on the advisory committee for the Mellon Diversity Dissertation Program that offers graduate fellowships to eligible Latino and Native American students.
Matthew Reisen is the news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @MReisen88.
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