Havidan Rodriguez

Havidán Rodríguez (born February 24, 1959) is the President Ad-Interim of The University of Texas–Pan American (UTPA).^[1][2] This announcement was made by The University of Texas System Chancellor on July 25, 2014.^[3] Prior to this position, Rodríguez served as the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and a tenured professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at UTPA. He has a distinguished career in educational leadership, teaching, research, and community service.

Before his arrival at UTPA, Rodríguez served as Deputy Provost at University of Delaware (UD), where he also was a professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice and former Director of the Disaster Research Center, the oldest and one of the leading social science disaster research centers in the world.

Prior to working at UD, Rodríguez, who obtained his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, held a faculty position and several administrative positions at the University of Puerto Rico–Mayaguez for over a decade and served from 1995 to 1998 as Director of the Minority Affairs Program for the American Sociological Association. He has also been a visiting professor at the University of Michigan's Population Fellow's Program (Summers, 2001-2003); was selected as the Frey Foundation Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Spring, 2002); received a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Outstanding Achievement Award (2004); and was recognized as one of the Hispanics of the Year in the State of Delaware, for which he received the Professional Achievement Award (2007). Rodríguez has served on a number of committees for the National Academies of Sciences and on review panels for the National Science Foundation and the Ford Foundation, and was the chair of the Latina/o Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association.

Education

Rodríguez earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Maryland, his master's degree in sociology from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His Ph.D. field of specialization was demography.

Administrative appointments

• President Ad-Interim, The University of Texas–Pan American, 2014–present
• Provost and VP for Academic Affairs, The University of Texas–Pan American, 2011-2014^[4]
• Professor of Sociology, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Texas–Pan American, 2011–present
• Deputy Provost, University of Delaware, July 2009-December 2010
• Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and International Programs, University of Delaware, 2006-2009
• Director, Disaster Research Center (DRC), University of Delaware, 2003-2006
• Interim Dean for Academic Affairs, University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez, 1999
• Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez, 1998-1999.
• Director, Center for Applied Social Research (CISA), University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez, 1997-1999
• Director, Minority Affairs Program, American Sociological Association, Washington, D.C., 1995-1998
• Director, Disaster Research Lab., Center for Applied Social Research, University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez, 1994-1995
• Interim Chair, Department of Social Sciences, University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez, 1993-1994
• Associate Chair, Department of Social Sciences, University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, 1992-1993

Teaching appointments

• Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Texas–Pan American, 2011-Current
• Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware, 2003-2010
• Visiting Professor, Population Fellows Program, Professional Exchange for Applied Knowledge (PEAK) Initiative, School of Public Health, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, Summers 2001, 2002, and 2003
• Professor, University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, 1999-2003
• Associate Professor, University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez, 1994-1999
• Assistant Professor, University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez, 1991-1994
• Lecturer, University of Wisconsin–Madison, 1991

Fellowships, honors and awards

• American Association of State Colleges and Universities, Millennium Leadership Initiative Institute, Protégé, 2013-14^[5]
• American Council on Education (ACE) Spectrum Executive Leadership Program, Member, 2014 Cohort
• Scholar of the Year. Awarded during the 2008 Crystal Awards Ceremony. Sponsored by El Sol: Latino Newspaper. Philadelphia, July 19, 2008
• Hispanic of the Year: Professional Achievement Award. Awarded during the 2007 Grand Ball. Sponsored and organized by the Latin American Community Center. October 5, 2007, Wilmington, Delaware^[6]
• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) Outstanding Achievement Award for 2004. Awarded on May 1, 2005 at the 2005 NDMS Conference, Orlando, Florida
• Frey Foundation Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, (Spring 2002)
• Visiting Scholar, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Participant in the Latino Statistical Workshop and the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research Summer Program in Quantitative Methods (Summer, 1993)
• American Sociological Association Minority Fellowship, University of Wisconsin–Madison (1986-1987 and 1989-1991)
• Advanced Opportunity Fellowship, University of Wisconsin–Madison (1987-1988 and 1989-1990)
• Honorable mention, Ford Foundation Doctoral Fellowship for Minorities (1986 and 1990)
• Advanced Opportunity Program Fellowship, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (1984–1986)

Research interests

Rodríguez's research interests include not only the study of socio-economic impact of disasters, but also the vulnerability and resiliency to disasters. He is one of the editors of the "Handbook of Disaster Research" ISBN 978-0-387-32353-4.

He has published on economic well-being among minorities in the United States, and also on the migration, education, and economic mobility among Puerto Ricans in Puerto Rico and the United States Mainland.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Havidan Rodriguez.

• Official University of Texas-Pan American Profile