Remembering Diana Natalicio: A special message from the UTEP Alumni Association

As Miners around the globe, we are all united in grief on the passing of Dr. Diana Natalicio, UTEP’s transformational leader for more than 31 years.

Dr. Natalicio was a pioneer in higher education, and thanks to her vision and fierce determination, she changed lives for the better. When other universities around the country chose to be more exclusive, Dr. Natalicio fought to make UTEP an open-access school, where anyone who wanted a college education had the opportunity to pursue one. “Access and Excellence” became her mantra. It is now her legacy.

As part of that legacy, more than 91,000 alumni earned their degrees under her tenure. Today, we mourn her passing, yet we remain steadfast in our unwavering support of the University she helped elevate on the world stage.

“An amazing and visionary person, Dr. Natalicio was the inspiration for generations of UTEP graduates spanning over three decades,” said Bernardino Olague, president of the UTEP Alumni Association. “She paved the road and her legacy will transcend generations to come. The UTEP Alumni Association Board of Directors joins the hundreds of thousands around the world in remembering Dr. Natalicio. We express our most heartfelt sympathy to her loved ones and family.”

Read a statement by UTEP President Heather Wilson and share your condolences at utep.edu/natalicio