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BA, Ethnic Studies
BS and MA in Communication Studies
Advisor to National Association for Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
University of Texas alumnus and Pew Hispanic Center Senior Fellow Sarita Brown has been selected as the 2003-04 College of Communication Outstanding Alumnus. She has also been named as the Graduate School’s Master of Arts Distinguished Alumnus for 2004.
Ms. Brown has spent more than two decades working at national academic and educational institutions and at the highest levels of government working to raise academic achievement and opportunity for low-income and minority students.
From 1997-2000, Ms. Brown served as Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, where she was responsible for the work of the 24-member President’s Advisory Commission, including advising the President and Secretary of Education on Hispanic American educational issues. She was also founding president of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund Institute (2001-03) where she worked to pinpoint existing opportunities and to leverage apportioned funds to best support Latinos in higher education, including building a talent pool for public sector leadership roles. That work resulted in the innovative Next Generation of Public Servants scholarship model promoting a smooth transition from college to federal service careers.
“Sarita is a national leader on matters related to diversity in higher education.” Dr. Richard Cherwitz, professor of rhetoric and composition said. “Her pioneering work at UT--in creating one of the first Graduate Opportunity Programs--is testimony to her commitment to increasing the number of persons of color who pursue graduate studies.”
Currently Ms. Brown serves as advisor to the National Association for Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) initiative for newly elected school board members and Center for Policy Analysis for the American Council on Education. She has received numerous awards including the 2003 Outstanding Contributions to Higher Education from the National Association for School Personnel (NASPA) and the 2002 Women of Distinction from the American Association of University Women (AAUW).
Ms. Brown holds a B.A. in Ethnic Studies and B.S. and M.A. in Communication from the University of Texas at Austin.