Vernon Eugene Lattin (born November 7, 1938), an American of

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

heritage, was the seventh president of

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

, from 1992 to 2000.

Biography

Lattin was born in

Winslow, Arizona Winslow is a city in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census, the population of the city is 9,005. It is approximately southeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, Flagstaff, west of Albuquerque, New ...

, to Eli Voil Lattin and Betty (Rubi) Lattin. In 1720, his ancestors had moved from Spain to a farming village in what was then called

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

, and is now

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, which in 1821 became part of Mexico, and then in 1846 became part of the US."A Crisis in American Education"; Vernon E. Lattin Commencement Address
June 2, 1998. He and his family moved to New Mexico when he was eight years old. His single mother raised him and his two brothers. He attended the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

(

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

, 1960;

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in English, 1965) and

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

(

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

in English, 1970)."4 Named to Executive Posts at CUNY"
/ref> From 1965–1967 Lattin was an instructor in English at

Wright State University Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio, United States. Originally opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, it became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in ...

, and from 1970–1974 he was Assistant Professor of English at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

. He was next at

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

, where from 1974–1977 he was coordinator of communication skills and English, from 1974–1981 he was Associate Professor of English, and from 1978–1981 he was director of the Center Latino and Latin American Studies. From 1982–1988 he was associate vice president of academic affairs at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, and from 1989–1992 he was Provost and Professor of English at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

. He was president of

from 1992 to 2000. Lattin is the co-author of ''Tomas Rivera, 1935–1984: The Man and His Work'', Bilingual Review/Press (1988). He also authored ''Contemporary Chicano fiction: a critical survey; Studies in the language and literature of United States Hispanos'', Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe (1986).Vernon E. Lattin (1986
''Contemporary Chicano fiction: a critical survey; Studies in the language and literature of United States Hispanos,''
Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lattin, Vernon People from Winslow, Arizona University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty American academics of Mexican descent Presidents of Brooklyn College 1938 births Living people University of Tennessee faculty Wright State University faculty Northern Illinois University faculty University of New Mexico alumni