Maria Teresa Velez, the Associate Dean of the Graduate College at the University of Arizona and a mentor to many students for more than 30 years, died Wednesday from cancer. She was 69.
Velez was known for her commitment to identifying and encouraging students to pursue graduate degrees, especially women and minorities.
In announcing her passing, Graduate College Dean Andrew Carnie, wrote on the college website that Velez “transformed the graduate enterprise both in terms of promoting student diversity and inclusion and pushing for the highest levels of excellence.”
Velez is credited for elevating the UA nationally in minority graduate students. The UA is first in the country graduating Native American students in Ph.D. programs and eighth in graduating Latinos with doctorate degrees, Carnie wrote.
In addition, Velez brought in $40 million to recruit and fund graduate students and support diversity. She developed the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Consortium (UROC) to help prepare and motivate students into graduate school.
“She was always a fierce fighter for grad students,” said Andrea Romero, an associate professor in Family Studies & Human Development. Many of the those students were the first in their families to earn graduate degrees, Romero added.
“She did whatever it took,” Romero said.
On Velez’s Facebook page, an outpouring of personal testimonials have appeared the past two days. They all carry a common theme that if it were not for Velez, they would not have gone into graduate school.
Jennifer Stanley, a Navajo student from Kayenta, was one of many students who were guided and inspired by Velez.
Stanley said she was on academic probation, had lost her scholarship and was ready to drop out when Velez intervened.
"She said, '"No. What you are going to do is come with me to my office and we are going to locate some funding for you.' We did exactly that and then some," Stanley said.
In addition to restoring her scholarships, Velez helped Stanley find money for rent and food.
"Ever since then she had been that force for me to reach for something higher. I felt like I couldn't let her down from then on," Stanley said.
Stanley, 29, earned her bachelor's degree in Agriculture Technology Management in 2010, and earned two master's in Agriculture Education and Educational Technology. She went on to work the Navajo Technical University in Crownpoint, New Mexico, for three years and recently accepted a position at Arizona State University.
Velez, known to many as MT, also mentored younger UA professors and recruited them to the UA.
“She had passion, empathy, a desire to change the academy, to have our voices heard,” said Paloma Beamer, an assistant professor in Environmental Health Sciences at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. “She was remarkable. We all felt special, like we were all adopted by her.”
Velez also was active in the Tucson Chicano/Mexican-American community. Velez was active in many community groups, including Las Adelitas, a women’s empowerment group.
Shortly before she died, the UA announced her retirement and the creation of a scholarship: the Dr. Maria Teresa Velez Diversity Leadership Scholarship, a $25,000 stipend and a full year’s tuition. It will be given annually to a graduate student who “has demonstrated a commitment to furthering diversity in education, higher education, and the community at large.”
Mariel Velez said her mother was dedicated to students who had come far and wanted to go further in their education.
“She was interested in the stories of people and their struggles. She saw herself in all these kids,” Velez, a California neurologist, said of her mother.
Velez left Cuba through the Peter Pan Program in which thousands of unaccompanied Cuban children were brought to the U.S. in the early 1960s. Velez arrived in Albuquerque, where she graduated from the University of New Mexico. In 1983, she received her doctorate in psychology from the Wright Institute in Los Angeles.
In 1984 she joined the UA’s Counseling and Psychological Services, eventually becoming its director. In subsequent years she served on the faculties in the Department of Psychology, Department of Family Studies, Mexican American Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies and the Center for Latin American Studies.
In 1996 she entered the Graduate College as the Associate Dean. Her most recent appointment was as director of the BLAISER program, (Border Latino & American Indian Summer Exposure to Research), with the College of Medicine. She received numerous awards and served on a number of national committees and consulted for other universities.
Her survivors are her children Damian Velez and Mariel Velez; step-children, Carmen, Miguel, Lucy and Carlos; son-in-law Nicholas Toriello and daughter-in-law Kandyce Velez; brother Angel Marques and sister-in-law Ana Marques; nieces Ana Carla and Legna
Velez was preceded in death by her husband Darrel Goll.
A memorial service will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on April 22, at the UA’s Student Union Ballroom, 1303 E. University Blvd. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Dr. Maria Teresa Velez Scholarship, c/o Las Adelitas, PO Box 27716, Tucson, AZ, 85726.
