Cynthia Ann Orozco (also Cynthia E. Orozco) is a professor of history and humanities at

Eastern New Mexico University Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU or Eastern) is a public university with a main campus in Portales, New Mexico, and two associate degree-granting branches, one at Ruidoso and one at Roswell. ENMU is New Mexico's largest regional comprehensi ...

known for her work establishing the field of Chicana studies.

Early life and education

Orozco was born in

Cuero, Texas Cuero ( ) is a city in and the county seat of DeWitt County, Texas, DeWitt County, Texas, United States. Its population was 8,128 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The city of Cuero got its start in the mid-19th century as a ...

to community activist and writer Aurora E. Orozco and Primitivo Orozco. Orozco attended

Southwest Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to be one of the largest univer ...

, and graduated from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. Orozco earned her Ph.D. from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

in 1992.

Career

Orozco is known for her work in Chicana Studies. Orozco's work has been discussed by Ernesto Chávez who described the history of the movement in his 2013 article, and by Sonia Hernández in her 2015 article on Mexican(a) labor history. She served as a coordinator of the Women’s Unit of the Chicano Studies Research Center which advanced Chicana Studies courses and research at the University of California, Los Angeles. She authored “Getting Started in Chicano Studies” for a women's studies journal, and co-founded the Chicana Caucus of National Association for Chicano Studies. Orozco spoke at the 1984 conference in Austin, its first conference focused on women, and the resulting essay “Sexism in Chicano Studies” was published in Chicana Voices. Orozco has taught at Eastern New Mexico University in Ruidoso since 2000 where she advocated for the establishment of tenure as university policy. She wrote ''No Mexicans, Women or Dogs Allowed: The Rise of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement'', the first scholarly history of the origins of the

League of United Latin American Citizens The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the largest and oldest Hispanic and Latin-American civil rights organization in the United States. It was established on February 17, 1929, in Corpus Christi, Texas, largely by Hispanic and ...

(LULAC). The book was reviewed by multiple journals. Orozco has written about the activist Adela Sloss-Vento, in a book that was reviewed by other journals. In 2020, Orozco published a book about the civil rights activist Alonso Perales.

Awards and honors

In 2012 the Texas State Historical Association named Orozco a fellow, and New Mexico League of United Latin American Citizens named her Educator of the Year. In 2015, she was one of the 'emerging leaders' named by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

. In 2018, she received the Eastern New Mexico University-Ruidoso National Society of Leadership and Success "Excellence in Teaching Award". In 2020, her book ''Agent of Change'' received the Liz Carpenter award from the Texas State Historical Association.

Selected publications

* * * * *

References

External links

Cynthia E. Orozco oral history collection
* * University of Texas at Austin alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Eastern New Mexico University faculty Living people People from Cuero, Texas Year of birth missing (living people) {{Improve categories, date=January 2022