Blandina Cardenas, dean of the College of Education
and Human Development
Presidential appointee named dean of College of Education and Human Development
(Oct. 9, 2001)--UTSA has named internationally known educator and civil rights advocate Blandina "Bambi" Cardenas dean of the College of Education and Human Development. She had served as interim dean of the recently restructured college since January, when founding dean Christopher Borman returned full time to teaching.
A native Texan who began her career in the public school system teaching at both the pre-school and high school levels, Cardenas first gained national recognition as director of innovative program development for the Edgewood Independent School District. Her pioneer efforts in bilingual infant stimulation, bilingual early childhood education for severely handicapped children, experiential learning and credentialing programs for teacher aides became national models.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter tapped her to become Commissioner of the Administration for Children, Youth and Families in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare where she led the nation's Head Start Program, the Child Welfare Program, the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, the Day Care Services Program, the Youth Services Program and the Child Development Research Program.
As an adviser to the U.S. Justice Department and the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, she often testified in cases involving the pursuit of equity for disadvantaged children. She also served as a consultant to Children's Television Workshop, Bilingual Children's Television and more than 200 educational agencies and organizations.
On an international level, she has been an official U.S. representative to education and children's organizations in The People's Republic of China, the Inter-American Children's Institute of the Organization of American States, UNESCO and the Organization for Economic and Cultural Development in Paris, France. In 1980, she was an official delegate to the United Nations World Conference of Women in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Cardenas was also an early spokeswoman for the Mexican American civil rights movement and served two terms as a member of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission under the Reagan and Bush administrations. During the 1980s, she directed the Office of Minorities in Higher Education for the American Council on Education and was a founding board member of the Fundacion Solidaridad Mexicana Americana.
On four occasions, she has been recognized by Hispanic Business as one of the nation's 100 most influential Hispanics, and a recent Harte Hanks survey cited her as one of the 20 most influential Hispanics in Texas. In 1991, she was inducted into the "Orden del Aguila Azteca," the highest honor given by Mexico to a non-citizen.
"Bambi Cardenas has successfully combined her many passions and abilities to work for the betterment of humanity at so many, many levels," said UTSA President Ricardo Romo. "Her accomplishments and contributions to education and to society are legendary. In the six years since she joined our faculty, she has already made an indelible mark through the work she did as chair of the President's Committee on University Reorganization, which played a key role in gathering data for UTSA's recent academic reorganization. She also served as director of the university's Hispanic Research Center.
"UTSA is fortunate, indeed, to have her heading up the College of Education and Human Development. I know she will continue to be a positive force for growth and success," Romo said.
Immediately prior to joining UTSA, Cardenas served as director of the Southwest Center on Values, Achievement and Community in Education, affiliated with the LBJ Institute at Southwest Texas University.
An associate professor of educational leadership at UTSA, Cardenas is a former chair of the board of trustees for the Educating Testing Service and former board member of the American Association of Higher Education. Her numerous accolades include the National Education Association Human Rights Award, the National Council of La Raza Award, the Human Rights Award from the Washington Committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Educator Award from Operation Push and the Pioneer Award from the National Association for Bilingual Education.
She is the recipient of honorary degrees from Notre Dame University, Kean College of New Jersey and St. Mary's College of Indiana. Cardenas earned a bachelor's degree in journalism/public relations at UT Austin and a doctorate in education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which recognized her as an outstanding alumnus in 1992.
Her son, Alexandro Rudolpho Ramirez, is an honors student at the University of Pennsylvania.
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