Manuel Trinidad Pacheco (born May 30, 1941) was president of

Laredo State University Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) is a public university in Laredo, Texas. It is part of the Texas A&M University System and home to over 8,500 students each academic semester. TAMIU offers over 70 undergraduate and graduate degrees in f ...

(1984–1988), the University of Houston–Downtown (1988–1991), the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

(1991–1997), the

University of Missouri System The University of Missouri System is an American state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, and ten research and technology parks. Nearly 70,000 students are cur ...

(1997–2002). In retirement, he served as the interim president of his alma mater, New Mexico Highlands University (2006-2007), and two terms as the interim president of New Mexico State University (2009, 2012-2013). Pacheco was born in

Rocky Ford, Colorado Rocky Ford is a statutory city located in Otero County, Colorado, United States. The population was 3,957 at the 2010 census. The community was named for a rocky ford near the original town site. Geography Rocky Ford is located at (38.0510 ...

. He received a bachelor's degree from New Mexico Highlands University in 1962, a masters in Spanish, and a Ph.D. in foreign language from the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in 1962 and 1969, respectively. Before becoming president at Laredo State University, he was associate dean of the College of Education at The University of Texas at El Paso from 1982 to 1986 and executive director of the Bilingual Education Center at

Texas A&I University Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

, now known as Texas A&M University–Kingsville. During his tenure as president of the

("MU"), Pacheco recommended to the board of curators that the university system exclude sexual orientation as a protected category in the system's non-discrimination clause. Pacheco stated his desire to only include categories protected by law (at the time, sexual orientation was not). The board accepted the recommendation in 1999, despite protests from students. In October 2003, after Pacheco's retirement, the system added sexual orientation to the clause, making it one of the last in the former "Big 12" to do so. In 1991, Pacheco was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacheco, Manuel 1941 births People from Rocky Ford, Colorado New Mexico Highlands University alumni Ohio State University Graduate School alumni Texas A&M International University Presidents of New Mexico State University Presidents of the University of Missouri System Presidents of the University of Houston–Downtown Presidents of the University of Arizona Living people