Masayoshi Son, he oversees the strategic direction of the Tokyo-based company. In addition, Claure serves as the executive chairman of Sprint, which serves 54.3 million customers.
Antonio R. Flores is a leading voice of Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs). His advocacy has garnered over $3 billion in federal funding for HSIs. Membership of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) represents more than 500 colleges and universities that serve two-thirds of the nearly 4 million Hispanic students in higher education across 38 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and include 35 leading universities in Latin America and Spain. Flores has served as president and CEO of HACU for over 20 years and received numerous recognitions and honors for his contributions to higher education. Anthony “Tony” R. Jimenez
is the founder, chairman, and CEO of MicroTech, one of the largest Hispanicowned IT integrators in the nation. He was the recipient of the 2016 Hispanic Heritage Foundation Award for Technology, one of the highest honors for Hispanics by Hispanics. An important part of Jimenez’s commitment to this nation’s youth are his efforts to advance STEM initiatives. In April 2016, Jimenez was named to the STEMconnector® List of 100 CEO Leaders in STEM. This list features some of the top CEOs in the nation who offer their unique perspective on the issues facing America’s STEM workforce.
Grace Lieblein retired as vice president of global quality for General Motors. She was the highest-ranking Latina in the auto industry. Among her career highlights, Lieblein was chief engineer for mid-size crossover vehicles including the award-winning Buick Enclave. She was the first woman to be named president and managing director of GM Mexico, and from there she became president and managing director of GM Brazil. Lieblein has been a director on the board of Honeywell since 2012 and joined the board of Southwest Airlines in 2016. She joined the American Tower Board in 2017 and has served on non-profit boards as well, including the Karmanos Cancer institute and the U.S. Chamber of 18
Commerce in Mexico.
Dr. Ellen Ochoa was the 11th director of the Johnson Space Center (2013-2018). She was JSC's first Hispanic director and its second female director. She became the first Hispanic woman to go to space when she served on the STS-56 mission aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1993. Ochoa has been recognized with NASA's highest award, the Distinguished Service Medal, and the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award for senior executives in the federal government. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), serves on several boards, and chairs the Nomination Evaluation Committee for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Hilda L. Solis was sworn in as Los Angeles County supervisor for the First District of Los Angeles County on Dec. 1, 2014. She was re-elected to a new four-year term in 2018. As county supervisor, Solis’ priorities include combating homelessness and building affordable housing, expanding county services, environmental justice, jobs, health care access, criminal justice reform, improving parks and open space, and ensuring arts equity. Prior, Solis served as secretary of labor under President Barack Obama. Solis was confirmed on Feb. 24, 2009, becoming the first Latina to serve in the United States Cabinet. A recognized leader on clean energy jobs, she authored the Green Jobs Act, which provided funding for “green” collar job training for veterans, displaced workers, at-risk youth, and individuals in families under 200 percent of the federal poverty line. Richard Tapia is internationally
known for his research in the computational and mathematical sciences. His current positions at Rice University are university professor (only the sixth individual afforded this title in the 100-year history of Rice), Maxfield-Oshman professor in engineering, and director of the Center for Excellence and Equity in Education. In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded Tapia with the National Medal of Science, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists
HISPANIC ENGINEER & Information Technology | SPRING 2020
and engineers. In 2014, Tapia was awarded the Vannevar Bush award. While at Rice, Tapia has directed or co-directed more underrepresented minority and women doctoral recipients in science and engineering than anyone in the country.
Nina Vaca is chairman and CEO of
Pinnacle Group, named the fastestgrowing woman-owned company in the country in 2015 and 2018. Pinnacle has also been included on the Inc 500/5000 list of fastest-growing companies 13 times. In 2014, Vaca was appointed by the White House as a presidential ambassador for global entrepreneurship. Most recently, ALPFA and Fortune Magazine named Vaca in the top 5 of the 50 Most Powerful Latinas in America. Vaca is particularly focused on expanding opportunities for women and Hispanics in STEM fields. Along with financial support, Pinnacle Group also provides extensive career preparation training and internship opportunities to high school and college students.
Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff is a molecular biologist. Before founding Intersections SBD in 2014, she was CEO of Cytonome, Inc. (2006–2009) and chief scientific officer of Cytonome/ ST, LLC (2009–2014). Prior to that, she was vice president for research at Northwestern University. Dr. VillaKomaroff is a member of the National Science Foundation Committee on Equal Opportunity in Science and Engineering, and the Advisory Council of the NSF Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences. She is a founding member of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/ Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). Currently she is nominating committee chair and a senior advisor. She also sits on the Keck Graduate Institute board. HE
8 Tips for Success from MichroTech CEO, Anthony Jimenez l.ead.me/bbT63y
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