Ana Mari Cauce is the president of the University of Washington, and the 33rd individual to seat in that position.
She is a Latin America who was born during the Cuba revolution on the 11 of January 1956 in Havana of Cuba Island. On account of the revolution, her family left Cuba when Ana was only three years old and headed to Florida, where she grew up.
While her family settled in Miami, her father Vicente Cauce, who was the minister of education in Cuba, at the time had to work in a shoe factory with his wife Ana Cauce (née Vivanco).
Ana schooled at the University of Miami, where she studied English. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude in English in 1977, and in 1979, she earned her first master’s degree in psychology and the other, Master of Philosophy from the University of Yale 1982.
Before moving to Seattle in 1986, she had worked as a lecturer at the University of Delaware. But when she got a job at the University of Washington, she relocated.
While in Washington, she was known for her standard teaching, scholarship, and advocacy and in 1990 gained tenure, six years later she became Chair of the American Ethnic Studies department. Ana later became the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, however, it wasn’t the end of the road for her, she continued to strive until 2012 when she became the Provost of the University of Washington and was also selected as Board of Regents for the university in 2015.
Based on her efficiency, she became the school’s most preferred choice to succeed her predecessor Michael Young as the president of Washington in 2017.
Ana Mari Cauce is the first permanent woman president of Washington University and also the first Latina to hold that position.
She is known to be passionate about granting access to higher education for all, she also promised to provide full tuition to eligible Washington students who otherwise could not attend college. She is also keen on bridging gaps that have existed among the students as a result of race and diversities, launching an effort to create a more just and diverse community.
Ana has been honoured with various awards, including the Dalmas Taylor Distinguished Contribution Award, the Luis Fernando Esteban Public Service Award, and the James M. Jones Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Psychological Association, the Grace Hopper Exemplary Leadership Award and the Distinguished Contribution Award from the Society for Community Research and Action.
