Wednesday, September 30, 2020
FEBRUARY 6, 2020 — Sergio Alcocer, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, has joined the faculty of the UTSA College of Engineering as a professor of civil engineering. He is a fellow of the American Concrete Institute, former president of the of the Academy of Engineering of Mexico, and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2017 for his work on enhancing seismic safety of buildings in developing countries through improved design standards and government policies.
As a distinguished researcher, Alcocer will collaborate with UTSA faculty in grant development and provide public and institutional lectures at UTSA for students, faculty, and the community. In addition, Alcocer will serve as a senior liaison to Mexican Programs, working with Vice Provost of Global Initiatives Lisa Montoya to advance UTSA’s commitment to internalization, multiculturalism and knowledge enterprises that are of mutual interest to both UTSA and Mexican institutions.
“Dr. Alcocer brings substantial foreign policy and civil engineering expertise to UTSA,” said JoAnn Browning, dean of the College of Engineering. “In addition to working with Global Initiatives to increase the number of cooperative ventures—including study abroad, joint degrees—that UTSA has with universities in Mexico, he will play a lead role in mentoring our engineering faculty for increasing their academic visibility and success.”
Alcocer earned his B.S degree in civil engineering from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in 1986 and a Ph.D. in civil engineering from UT Austin in 1991. After completing his doctorate degree, he served as the head of the Structural Engineering and Geotechnical Area for the National Center for Disaster Prevention at UNAM from 1991 to 2000. Between 2000 and 2003 he was director of research for the center, followed by his promotion to become the director of the Institute of Engineering from 2003 to 2007.
He served as secretary general and provost of UNAM from 2007 to 2011, and as the vice president for innovation and development at UNAM in 2012. Between 2011 and 2012, Alcocer was appointed by the Mexican government as the undersecretary for energy planning and technology development within the Ministry of Energy. He again served as the undersecretary for North America in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Mexican government from 2013 to 2015.
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Throughout his distinguished career in academia and public service, Alcocer held the appointment as a research professor for UNAM from 1995 until accepting his new position at UTSA. He has received numerous awards, including the 2014 Award of Distinction from the Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration, the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award from the Cockrell School of Engineering at UT Austin, the Charles S. Whitney Medal from ACI, and the Research Prize from the Mexican Academy of Sciences.
Alcocer was recruited to UTSA through the Accelerated Hiring of Nationally Recognized Faculty Program (NRP) a component of the Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiative launched in 2019. The NRP supports the hiring of additional nationally and internationally recognized, highly accomplished full-time, tenured faculty who will advance research excellence at UTSA through enhancing academic distinction and student success outlined in the President’s Vision and Strategic Plan for UTSA.
“We are using the NRP to bring distinctive faculty to UTSA, and we are very excited to welcome Sergio Alcocer as our third tenured faculty member who is a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering or Medicine—a marker of faculty quality that contributes directly to the quality of the classroom experience of our students,” said Kimberly Andrews Espy, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “The relationship of our city and university to Mexico is an important one, and Dr. Alcocer brings an esteemed reputation and a tremendous network of collaborators to help UTSA further enhance our partnerships in Mexico.”
Also joining the college are Mario Flores and Karina Vielma.
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Organized by faculty and staff from the College for Health, Community and Policy, the third Texas Latino Policy Symposium convenes academics, practitioners and activists from across the state to engage in discussions that examin the need of our Latino population and the impact of COVID-19 in Texas. The goal of this symposium is to formulate policy responses to propose to the Texas legislature that redress the disproportionate lasting impact the pandemic has had on Latino families.
Virtual EventThis panel will discuss hispanic serving institutions and their role in serving students and their communities. Sandra Garza, PhD,, assistant professor and coordinator of the Mexican American Studies Program at Northwest Vista College; Paul J. Rodriguez, Ed.D., project director for PIVOT for Academic Success at UTSA; Erin E. Doran, Ed.D., assistant professor of higher education at Iowa State University; Andres Puente, sports marketing major at UTSA and Lilianna Saldaña, PhD., associate professor and program coordinator for the UTSA Mexican American Studies Program will be a part of the panel.
Virtual EventJoin Excelencia in Education online for the national announcement of the 2020 Examples of Excelencia. Selected programs in colleges, universities and community-based organizations across the country will be recognized for their positive impact on Latino student success.
Virtual EventAll students and employees are able to get their flu shot and other vaccines at the Main Campus from October 6 to 7 and at the Downtown Campus on October 8, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on the clinic and the influenza virus, visit the Roadrunner Return page.
Denman Room (SU 2.01.28)In this gathering hosted by the Office of Inclusive Excellence, attendees will discuss the potential role restorative justice has in anti-racism work. The event will also focus on how people of color persevere in hyper racialized white systems.
Virtual EventThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
