Dr. Ricardo Romo became the fifth president of The University of Texas at San Antonio in May 1999. As president, he leads one of the fastest growing institutions of higher education in Texas and the nation.
President Romo recently unveiled “The UTSA Plan: A Roadmap to Excellence,” a strategic effort to enhance both access to education and excellence in scholarship and service at UTSA. As a result, UTSA will more than double the current number of tenured and tenure-track faculty by 2012 and develop additional doctoral programs and research institutes. To accommodate future growth, UTSA plans to add nearly $750 million in new facilities, including an $84 million science building that was completed in 2005.
During President Romo’s tenure, UTSA’s enrollment has increased 40% and the University has added numerous programs and facilities to enhance student life, including a $20 million Recreation/Wellness Building, a 1,000-bed Olympic village-style housing complex and several new student support programs designed to help students succeed at earning a university degree. The number of advisers has tripled, and UTSA is recognized as a leader in “Closing the Gaps,” a statewide initiative by the Legislature to enroll more Texans in higher education.
A native of San Antonio’s West Side, President Romo graduated from Fox Tech High School and attended the University of Texas at Austin on a track scholarship. He holds a master’s degree in history from Loyola Marymount University and a Ph.D. in history from UCLA. Romo is an urban historian and the author of “East Los Angeles: History of a Barrio,” which is now in its ninth printing (one in Spanish).
In 1980, President Romo returned to UT Austin to teach history before becoming a vice provost for undergraduate education. From 1987 to 1993, Romo directed the Texas office of the Tomas Rivera Center, housed at Trinity University, where he evaluated the impact of governmental policies on Latinos. In 2002, President Bush appointed him to the President’s Board of Advisers on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In 2004, former Secretary of State Colin Powell appointed Romo as a U.S. representative to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization and in 2005 Romo was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, San Antonio branch.
President Romo is married to Dr. Harriett Romo, an associate professor in social and policy sciences at UTSA. She also works with the National Head Start Family Service Center. They have one son, Carlos, who graduated from Stanford University and now attends the University of Texas School of Law. Their daughter, Anadelia, received a doctoral degree from Harvard University.
President Romo’s photography has been included in several regional art exhibits, including “Havana,” a collection of his prints taken in Cuba.
