(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Dr. Francisco G. Cigarroa, the Chancellor of The Univeristy of Texas System, will be the featured speaker at the upcoming Latino Leaders Luncheon Series™, taking place from 11:30 am-2:00 pm on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at the Capital Hilton, 16th and K Streets, NW in Washington, DC. Additional speakers for the program include Latino Leaders Network Founder and Chairman, Mickey Ibarra; Rafaela Schwan with the Society for Professional Hispanic Engineers and special guest Congressman Ruben Hinojosa from Texas. The quarterly event provides a platform for prominent Latino leaders to share their personal story of obstacles overcome to achieve success.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Cigarroa to the Latino Leaders Luncheon Series™ and to present him with the Nambe Eagle Leadership Award for outstanding contributions to our community,” says Mickey Ibarra, Founder and Chairman of the Latino Leaders Network™. “A nationally prominent surgeon, he is the first Hispanic leader to be named the chief executive of a major university system and a U.S. health science university. His work in the field of surgery and medical research make him one of the foremost Latino medical leaders in the world.”
Dr. Cigarroa was appointed Chancellor of the University of Texas System in January 2009, the first Latino to ever lead a major university system in the United States. Previously, he served as the President of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. A renowned pediatric and transplant surgeon, Dr. Francisco Cigarroa earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and his medical degree from The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. During his twelve years of postgraduate training, he held internships and residencies at Massachusetts General, where he was named chief surgical resident. He also held both fellowship and faculty positions at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
As a medical researcher, Dr. Cigarroa pioneered several surgical innovations. In 1997, he was part of a surgical team that split a donor liver for transplant into two recipients, the first operation of its kind to be performed in Texas. Earlier that year, he led the surgical team that performed the region’s first successful small bowel transplant in a child. A Mexican American native of Laredo, Texas, he is the son of Laredo physician Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez Cigarroa, Jr.
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. is the sponsor for the Network reception and the Coca-Cola Company and Verizon are the sponsors for the luncheon. Media partners include the Hispanic Communications Network, Latino Leaders Magazine, and El Tiempo Latino.
The first Latino Leaders Luncheon Series event was held in 2004 and more than 20 luncheons have taken place since that time, featuring such diverse speakers such as Governor Bill Richardson; Senators Bob Menendez, Mel Martinez and Ken Salazar; Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; Father Virgilio Elizondo; actors Wilmer Valderamma and Eva Longoria; journalist Maria Hinojoso; and NY Mets General Manager Omar Minaya, among others. Details and photos from each of these events are available on the Latino Leaders Network™ website (www.LatinoLeadersNetwork.org).
Latino Leaders Network™ (LLN) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to develop ongoing opportunities to bring leaders together to establish relationships and dialogue on issues important to the Latino community. In addition to the Latino Leaders Luncheon Series™, other signature events supported by the LLN are the Latino Leaders Issue Hour and the Latino Mayors Tribute. LLN is also the producer of the “Latinos on the Hill” directory and first-ever Latino Honor Roll. Mickey Ibarra is President of Mickey Ibarra & Associates, a government relations and public affairs firm . He served as Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House from 1997 to 2001. In addition to Mickey Ibarra, the Board of Directors of the Network includes: Michelle Minguez Moore, Executive Director; Maria Teresa Petersen, Executive Director for Voto Latino; Raul L. Rubio, a government affairs consultant; Ruben Alvarez, co-founder and Managing Partner of the Molera Alvarez Group; and David Ibarra; a Utah business owner and founder of the Ibarra Foundation.
Notes: Participation in the Latino Leaders Luncheon Series™ is by invitation only. For more information, please contact Michelle Minguez Moore at 202-969-8777.
Media wishing to cover the luncheon are asked to RSVP to Jennifer Devlin at 703-876-1714 or jennifer.devlin@cox.net. Press call time is 12:00 pm for the luncheon.