Ruben Parra named HACU fellow

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities named DePaul's Ruben Parra as one of the 26 fellows for the second cohort of its Leadership Academy/ La Academia de Liderazgo. The program is designed to increase diverse representation in executive and senior-level positions in higher education.

Parra is a professor of computational chemistry in the College of Science and Health, and recently served as interim associate provost for diversity and inclusion at DePaul. While in the HACU program, he will participate in an array of leadership development activities aimed at preparing the fellows for leadership roles in the full spectrum of institutions of higher learning.

“I would like to capitalize on this opportunity to learn from senior administrators and other program participants about how their big-picture views are translated into sound realities on campus," Parra notes.

More specifically, Parra hopes to learn more about how to foster more diverse and inclusive college campuses.

“I am interested in learning approaches for strategic planning including creative and effective ways for diversifying the campus community -- faculty, students and staff alike," he says. “I also want to learn about effective ways for establishing and maintaining an inclusive and welcoming campus. All colleges and universities are compelled to make every effort to have an inclusive campus environment, and I am hopeful this program can help me further develop the kind of flexible leadership that ca​n help me set the tone to lead those efforts."

Founded in 1986, HACU represents more than 500 colleges and universities in the United States, Latin America, Spain and school districts throughout the U.S. The mission of HACU is to champion Hispanic success in higher education.