Antonio Zavaleta honored with prestigious Mexican award
Antonio Zavaleta feels honored to receive an award from the Mexican government for his work on behalf of immigrants.
"It feels so wonderful because in many ways it affirms my career, more than 40 years of working on the border," said Zavaleta, special assistant to the provost and a professor of anthropology at The University of Texas Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.
Zavaleta said he was "walking on clouds" after learning he would be awarded Saturday with Mexico’s Premio Ohtli award. The government of Mexico gives the award to non-Mexicans who work to improve the quality of life for Mexican citizens living abroad.
"It was totally unanticipated," Zavaleta said. "I mean, it’s not something I thought about; it just was announced to me."
Zavaleta would not speculate on why he received the award.
"It would be totally inappropriate for me to say, ‘Well, I think I got this award because I did this or I did that.’ Because, that’s not the way it is," he said. "I didn’t fill out an application; I didn’t apply. I know that someone along the line must have nominated me, and I know that my curriculum vitae was reviewed by a panel in Mexico City."
He did, however, say that for the past 40 years he has been involved in issues concerning immigration, poverty, housing, health care and nutrition.
"It affirms my career, more than 40 years of working on the border, working with the press in terms of doing interviews, having people understand really who Mexicans are, and Mexican culture. And I’ve been doing that for more than 40 years, so I’m very excited to hear about this," he said.
Zavaleta has been a graduate professor of anthropology at UTB-TSC since 1992, said a press release from Letty Fernandez, director of News and Information for the university. Zavaleta, she said in the release, has also been an interim dean, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, interim divisional vice president, vice president for External Affairs, interim provost and is currently the special assistant to the provost.
Zavaleta is a graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy in Brownsville. He has an associate of arts degree from Texas Southmost College and a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctoral degree in anthropology from The University of Texas at Austin.
The award will be presented 7 p.m. Saturday at the Education and Business Complex on the UTB-TSC campus.
