Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities Names New Chair, Chair-Elect, and Executive Committee Members
The Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities has named Azuri Gonzalez, Ed.D., as the organization’s new Executive Director. She will begin her new role on Oct. 1,2022. Prior to her role with HSRU, Gonzalez served as director of the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) and as interim director of the Center forFaculty Leadership and Development at The University of Texas at El Paso.
Cynthia Larive, chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz, has been appointed chair of the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities (HSRU). Her two-year term marks a new chapter for the Alliance, which strives to enhance educational pathways and opportunities for historically underserved students, faculty and communities.
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“I am deeply honored to lead the Alliance as we work to expand opportunities for Hispanic students and scholars,” Larive said. “Together we can achieve significant progress in fostering the success of all students within our academic and research communities, ensuring that Hispanic students and faculty thrive in our institutions.”

The Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities has named Azuri Gonzalez, Ed.D., as the organization’s new Executive Director. She will begin her new role on Oct. 1,2022. Prior to her role with HSRU, Gonzalez served as director of the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) and as interim director of the Center forFaculty Leadership and Development at The University of Texas at El Paso.

Taylor Eighmy, president of the University of Texas at San Antonio, was named chair-elect. Heather Wilson, president of the University of Texas at El Paso, concludes her groundbreaking tenure as chair and will continue to serve the Alliance in the role of past-chair.

“The opportunities created by the Alliance will be incredibly impactful for students and the professoriate across the nation,” Eighmy said. “I’m especially excited about how we will impact our national innovation ecosystem and the workforce it will require in the decades to come. I look forward to continued collaboration with Chancellor Larive, President Wilson and executive committee members to further scale our impact and strategic partnerships.”
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In addition to the new chair and chair-elect, four executive committee members were elected for three-year terms. These include Jennifer Cowley (University of Texas at Arlington), Marie Lynn Miranda (University of Illinois, Chicago), Garnett Stokes (University of New Mexico), and Keith Whitfield (University of Nevada, Las Vegas). They will join continuing members Howard Gillman (University of California, Irvine), Kim A. Wilcox (University of California, Riverside), Alexander Cartwright (University of Central Florida), Taylor Eighmy (University of Texas, San Antonio).
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Completing their terms on the executive committee are Robert Robbins (University of Arizona), Neal Smatresk (University of North Texas), and Henry Yang (University of California, Santa Barbara).
The Alliance, comprises universities classified as Hispanic-Serving Institutions that also have high research activity (Carnegie R-1 designation), is dedicated to expanding opportunities for historically underserved Hispanic communities in higher education.
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The Alliance aims to:
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• Double the number of Hispanic doctoral students enrolled at Alliance universities, and
• Increase by 20% the Hispanic professoriate in Alliance universities.

The 22 HSRU Alliance universities, representing ten states, enrolled 853,698 students in fall 2022; of those, 32.1 percent identify as Hispanic. In 2022,  the combined research spending of these universities totaled more than $7.95 billion.

Alliance universities are involved in thousands of impactful research projects across diverse fields, including arts and humanities, STEM, health sciences, and social sciences. During the 2021-22 academic year, these institutions produced 13,676 doctoral graduates, 13.5 percent of whom were Hispanic.

The Alliance officially launched in the summer of 2022, and has received support from Andrew W. Mellon, Strada Education, Henry Luce and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Mellon Foundation recently renewed its initial University of Illinois Chicago-led $5 million investment of the interdisciplinary Latino humanities scholarship and PhD pathways across member institutions.

The Alliance’s member institutions are:

• Arizona State University
• City University of New York Graduate Center
• Florida International University
• New Jersey Institute of Technology
• Texas A&M University
• Texas Tech University
• The University of Arizona
• The University of New Mexico
• The University of Texas at Arlington
• The University of Texas at Austin
• The University of Texas at El Paso
• The University of Texas at San Antonio
• University of California, Irvine
• University of California, Riverside
• University of California, Santa Barbara
• University of California, Santa Cruz
• University of Central Florida
• University of Colorado, Denver
• University of Houston
• University of Illinois Chicago
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• University of North Texas

The Alliance continues to shape the future of Hispanic education and research through a strong network, key collaborative efforts with private and public entities, and visionary leadership.
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Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research Universities