Ernesto Nieto to Serve as UF’s Fall 2017 Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow

Ernesto Nieto

Ernesto Nieto, National Hispanic Institute, Inc. founder and president, and author of “Third Reality: Crafting a 21^st Century Latino Agenda,” will be the University of Findlay’s next Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow. He will offer a free public lecture on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Alumni Memorial Union.
Nieto will speak about “Community Social Entrepreneurship: A New Social Concept for Leadership in the Latino Community.”
Nieto founded the Institute in 1979 after serving in various management positions in state and federal government. His dream entailed creating a leadership organization for Latino Youth. Since its inception, the nonprofit Institute has worked with more than 120 higher education institutions and served more than 100,000 youth from across the nation and from Latin America. It seeks to improve the Latino community’s future by developing a human talent pipeline of highly skilled, creative and socially developed future leaders. The organization provides summer programming to thousands of high school students, many of whom enroll in college.
In his book, the Houston, Texas native artfully weaves insights about personal, family, social, political and cultural events with reflections about the deeper meaning attributed to them. His analysis pay particular attention to implications for himself, his wife and life partner, Gloria de Leon, his children, his relatives and friends, the national and international communities of Latinos and Latinas, and the National Hispanic Institute.
Today, Nieto has many different professional roles. He is the chief executive officer of the National Hispanic Institute, and serves on the Board of Trustees of Southwestern University and its Board of Visitors. He also serves as a consultant to colleges and universities regarding Latino student outreach and recruitment.
Nieto attended the University of Houston on an athletic scholarship, then transferred to Southwestern University in Georgetown Texas where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Education. He earned a master’s degree from the University of Houston. He received honorary degrees from Austin College and Texas Wesleyan University.
He also has earned numerous awards and recognitions, such as the George I. Sanchez Award from the National Education Association, Eagle Leadership Award by the El Paso, Texas City Council; the Meritorious Service Award by Southwestern University; and has been honored as a “Distinguished Alumnus” of both Southwestern University and Jefferson Davis High School.
Nieto, who will be in residence until Oct. 5, will be the University of Findlay’s eighth Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow. For additional information about the program, contact Marie Louden-Hanes, Ph.D., professor of art history, at louden-hanes@findlay.edu or 419-434-4504.