Awareness Series Brings Latino Scholar to Campus

Refugio I. Rochin, a national leader in re-search on Latino issues and the first director of the Smithsonian Center for Latino Initiatives, will give a talk on Wednesday, September 27. The lecture, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Emerson Suite B, Phillips Hall, is in celebration of Latino Heritage Month 2000 and is the first of four lectures in the Office of Multicultural Affairs Awareness Series. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Rochin, a respected scholar and teacher, is professor emeritus of agricultural economics and Chicano studies at the University of California, Davis.

His areas of expertise are Latino studies, Hispanic enterprises, human resource economics, and rural development. In his current position at the Smithsonian, Rochin oversees a variety of exhibitions, collections, and other projects designed to increase awareness of the contributions of Latinos to the history and culture of the United States.

He came to the Smithsonian from Michigan State University, where he was a professor of sociology and agricultural economics and director of the Julian Samora Research Institute. He has served on the California Board of Food and Agriculture; the USDA National Board for Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics; and the boards of the California Rural Housing Corporation, Michigan Educational Opportunity Fund, and Economists of Hispanic Business.

Rochin was a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia from 1962 to 1964. His work as a consultant with the U.S. State Department has taken him to Egypt, South Korea, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and other areas of the world.

The annual Awareness Series reflects Ithaca College’s commitment to promoting an appreciation of multiculturalism by bringing speakers from different racial and ethnic backgrounds to campus.

For more information contact the Office of Multicultural Affairs at 274-1692.