Tucson Native Jaime Gutierrez Recognized

Tucson Native Jaime Gutierrez Recognized for his Distinctive International Service by the Consortium North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC)
Left to Right: David Atkinson, Vice president of the CONAHEC Board of Directors and President of MacEwan University, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Sean Manley-Casimir, Executive Director of CONAHEC and Director of Latin American Collaborations of the University of Arizona; Jaime Gutierrez, recipient of the CONAHEC Manuel T. Pacheco Award; and David Longanecker, President of the CONAHEC Board of Directors and President of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), Boulder, Colorado.

At the 20th anniversary conference of the Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC) celebrated in Tucson, Arizona from October 8-10, 2014, Jaime Gutierrez was awarded the organization’s Manuel T. Pacheco Award. Named on behalf of Manuel T. Pacheco, former president of the University of Arizona and a distinguished international educator, this award acknowledges Pacheco’s work and effort in promoting CONAHEC and its trilateral educational focus.

The award is given to an outstanding individual from Mexico, Canada, or the United States who has demonstrated exceptional achievement and contribution to the development and progress of CONAHEC, its mission, and in meeting its program objectives. CONAHEC is a not-for-profit membership-based consortium of over 190 higher education institutions in the U.S., Mexico and Canada with select affiliated institutions in an additional 19 countries which fosters international higher education collaboration initiatives.

Jaime Gutierrez, who during his time as a senior administrator at the University of Arizona oversaw CONAHEC, was chosen for his tireless advocacy on behalf of the organization and its mission. Jaime Gutierrez was an Arizona State Senator for 14 years and among many other distinctions in his service was Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Community Food Bank and the Hispanic Women’s Corporation; is president of the City of Tucson Industrial Development Authority; and is a member of the Arizona State Retirement System Board of Trustees.

The award ceremony was celebrated on campus at The University of Arizona and in the presence of over 200 international delegates accompanied by Tucson Mariachi group Los Changitos Feos and folkloric ballet dancers from the State University of Sonora