The president and CEO of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), Dr. Antonio R. Flores, will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from Hispanic Business magazine.

The award will be presented during the magazine’s annual Entrepreneur of the Year Award Gala on November 20, 2003, at the Century Plaza Hotel and Spa, in Los Angeles, California.

Each year Hispanic Business magazine recognizes business owners who epitomize the drive, innovative courage, and civic responsibility of America’s successful Hispanic entrepreneurs. Award recipients are recognized for their business excellence and community contributions.

The purpose of the event is to honor a select group of dedicated individuals who represent the imagination and spirit of Hispanic entrepreneurship in America and celebrate their accomplishments.

Antonio R. Flores, Ph.D., is responsible for the overall leadership of HACU, the only national educational association that represents Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), colleges and universities with an Hispanic enrollment of at least 25%, and other higher education institutions committed to Hispanic access and success. Since taking over HACU’s presidency in 1996, total membership has grown from 161 colleges and universities to 349, the number of HSI members has nearly doubled (from 99 to 190), International membership has increased from 7 to 34 in six countries in Latin America and Spain, and a new category of Partner Institutions has been created, now numbering 28 institutions in 18 states. The Association’s operating budget has doubled from $4.1 million in 1996 to $9 million in 2002.

A leading advocate for Hispanic higher education on Capitol Hill, Flores has seen federal appropriations for Hispanic-Serving Institutions under the competitive Title V grant program of the Higher Education Act grow from $12 million in FY 1996 to $93 million in FY 2003. HACU’s National Internship Program, which places Hispanic students in paid internships with federal agencies and major corporations, grew from 288 interns in 1996 to over 600 in recent years and has been nationally recognized as the largest Hispanic internship program in the country.

Flores has been a strong voice for the importance of diversity in higher education from the Hopwood decision in Texas and Proposition 209 debate in California to the recent Supreme Court decisions in the University of Michigan cases. His entrepreneurial spirit is reflected in creative partnerships with other MSI associations in the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education, with the Kellogg Foundation in an MSI Leadership Fellows Program inaugurated this year, with NASA, NSF, and NIH in furthering science education initiatives for Hispanic students, and with NSF, Educause, and the Verizon Corporation in addressing the digital divide between HSIs and other colleges and universities in educational technology.

Prior to his position at HACU, Flores served as director of programs and services for the Michigan Higher Education Assistance Authority and the Michigan Higher Education Student Loan Authority. His statewide responsibilities included policy analysis and development; legislative affairs; administrative leadership for programs; technical assistance and outreach services for all Michigan colleges and universities; program evaluation and research; and overall management of 15 professional staff.

For more information about HACU, contact HACU Director of Communications Daniel Casillas at (210) 692-3805 Ext. 3249 (dcasillas@hacu.net), or visit www.hacu.net.