Vernon Eugene Lattin (born November 7, 1938), an American of

Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...

heritage, was the seventh president of

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

, from 1992 to 2000.

Biography

Lattin was born in

Winslow, Arizona Winslow ( nv, ) is a city in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 9,655. It is approximately southeast of Flagstaff, west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and southeast of Las Vegas ...

, to Eli Voil Lattin and Betty (Rubi) Lattin. In 1720, his ancestors had moved from Spain to a farming village in what was then called

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

, and is now

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, which in 1821 became part of Mexico, and then in 1846 became part of the US."A Crisis in American Education"; Vernon E. Lattin Commencement Address
June 2, 1998. He and his family moved to New Mexico when he was eight years old. His single mother raised him and his two brothers. He attended the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

(

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

, 1960;

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in English, 1965) and

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

(

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in English, 1970)."4 Named to Executive Posts at CUNY"
/ref> From 1965–1967 Lattin was an instructor in English at

Wright State University Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio. Originally opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, it became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in honor of aviation ...

, and from 1970–1974 he was Assistant Professor of English at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

. He was next at

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

, where from 1974–1977 he was coordinator of communication skills and English, from 1974–1981 he was Associate Professor of English, and from 1978–1981 he was director of the Center Latino and Latin American Studies. From 1982–1988 he was associate vice president of academic affairs at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, and from 1989–1992 he was Provost and Professor of English at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

. He was president of

from 1992 to 2000. Lattin is the co-author of ''Tomas Rivera, 1935–1984: The Man and His Work'', Bilingual Review/Press (1988). He also authored ''Contemporary Chicano fiction: a critical survey; Studies in the language and literature of United States Hispanos'', Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe (1986).Vernon E. Lattin (1986
''Contemporary Chicano fiction: a critical survey; Studies in the language and literature of United States Hispanos,''
Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lattin, Vernon People from Winslow, Arizona University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty American academics of Mexican descent Presidents of Brooklyn College 1938 births Living people University of Tennessee faculty Wright State University faculty Northern Illinois University faculty University of New Mexico alumni