HispanicBusiness

In 1992, Elias Provencio-Vasquez became the first Hispanic male in U.S. history to earn a doctoral degree in nursing.

This week, he achieved another first.

After a national search, The University of Texas at El Paso appointed Provencio-Vasquez as the dean of the School of Nursing, university officials announced Monday. Provencio-Vasquez is the first Hispanic male in the United States to assume such a position.

Provencio-Vasquez, a native of El Paso, earned his doctorate in nursing from the University of Arizona in 1992.

"We are very pleased and proud to welcome Dr. Elias Provencio-Vasquez to UTEP," the university President Diana Natalicio said in a staetment. "We look forward to working with him to help the university build an even stronger nursing program as we move towards tier one status."

Currently the associate dean of the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla., Provencio-Vasquez will begin his duties at UTEP in February.

"Together, we will build on the great success of the School of Nursing and take the school to new heights," Provencio-Vasquez said.

He said he is looking forward to working closely with the nursing faculty, staff, students and alumni.

"Joining The University of Texas at El Paso leadership team is like coming home," he said.

For the last 30 years, Provencio-Vasquez has been a clinician, educator, researcher and administrator. He is well known nationally and internationally for his work with at-risk women and their families. His background and expertise is primary care and developmental assessments of HIV and drug-exposed infants, children and adolescents. He was the former director for the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner program at the University of Texas at Houston and the University of Maryland.

Provencio-Vasquez is past president of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, where he raised awareness, value and appropriate compensation for nurse practitioners during his term.

He is a former member of the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, and the Health Resources and Services Administration, and a current member of the National Advisory Committee of the New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Programs, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. In addition, he holds "fellowship" status in several prestigious national organizations: United States Public Health Service Primary Care Policy Program; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Developing Leadership and Reducing Substance Abuse; American Association of Colleges of Nursing Leadership for Academic Nursing Programs; American Academy of Nurse Practitioners; American Academy of Nursing and Robert Wood Johnson Nurse Executive Fellows Program.