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| President Michael Ortiz |
A leading nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting outstanding Hispanic American professionals in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, will honor President Michael Ortiz with its first ever Vanguard Award.
The Vanguard Award is designed to honor an individual, with a non-technical background, who is actively involved in programs that recruit and prepare more Hispanic professionals for these technical fields.
“While this honor is directed to me, it is actually a reflection of the extraordinary work of our faculty and staff in the STEM disciplines,” Ortiz said. “Their efforts are making a difference in the lives of our students and their families, opening doors for a new generation.”
Ortiz will be honored at the 19th annual Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference on Oct. 11 in San Diego.
Cal Poly Pomona has several programs in place that actively recruit and retain students and faculty in STEM fields.
In 2006, the National Science Foundation awarded the university a $3.3 million grant that will help launch a program titled “The Path to Leadership: Collaborative Institutional Change.” This five-year effort will create recruitment, retention and professional development programs to help diverse faculty in STEM disciplines to advance to leadership positions.
The College of Engineering also has the distinction of graduating the largest number of underrepresented engineers and computer scientists in the state. Nationally, the university ranks No. 2 in this same category, and is a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI).
Cal Poly Pomona is also actively involved in preparing future science and math teachers for the region's diverse K-12 classrooms.
TQE/Teacher PREP (Teacher Pathways Reaching Excellence through Partnerships) is a federally-funded program designed to create and implement a comprehensive model of reform aimed at significantly improving the preparation of teachers, especially in the math and science fields. There is a significant need to train highly-qualified teachers in those subjects.
For more information about the HENAAC Awards, visit, https://www.henaac.org/.