Professor Albert M. Camarillo
At its Midyear meetings in Seattle, Washington, the NACCS Board unanimously selected the Northern California Foco nomination of Dr. Albert M. Camarillo for NACCS Scholar. Camarillo has been a pillar in the Chicano/a community, training a cadre of Chicana/o Historians and working on the front lines to create and include Chicano/a Studies within the Academy. He was part of the initial wave of Chicanos and Chicanas to attend college in the 1960s before affirmative action programs and laid the foundation for generations of students and faculty.
Professor Camarillo earned his Ph.D. from UCLA in History in 1975 and promptly became a professor in the Department of History at Stanford University where he spent his entire academic career (42 years) until his retirement this year. During his tenure at Stanford Dr. Camarillo held numerous academic and administrative positions including Special Assistant to the Provost for Faculty Diversity (2007-2019), Founding Director of the Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity (1996-2002), Associate Dean and Director of Undergraduate Studies (1992-94), Founding Director of the Inter-University Program for Latino Research (IUP) (1985-88), and the Founding Director of the Stanford Center for Chicano Research (1980-1985).
Professor Camarillo taught thousands of students at both graduate and undergraduate levels. Among his students are Antonia Castañeda, (Ph.D. 1990), David G. Gutierrez, Monica Perales, Stephen J. Pitti, Vicky L. Ruiz, George J. Sanchez, and William Deverell. It is fitting to note that in many ways Dr. Camarillo has paved the way for students to become historians in his numerous leadership roles in the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, the Urban History Association, and in the National Association for Chicano Studies (sic). He served as a co-editor of the 1979 NACS proceedings “Work, Family, Sex Roles, Language” along with Francisco Hernandez and 1999 NACCS Scholar Mario Barrera.
His dissertation, “The Making of the Chicano Community: A History of the Chicanos in Santa Barbara, California, 1850-1930”, was nominated in 1975 as one of the best Ph.D. theses in American History in the nation and augured the impact he would have in documenting Chicana and Chicano History in the future. Author of multiple books and articles focusing on the experiences of Mexican Americans and other racial and immigrant groups in North American Cities. Dr. Camarillo is widely regarded as one of the founders of Chicana and Chicano Studies history from his very first article and beyond.
The NACCS Scholar award was established in 1981 to recognize “life achievement” contributions of scholars to Chicana and Chicano Studies.
It is our sincere honor to welcome Dr. Camarillo as the NACCS 2020 Scholar in recognition of his life’s dedication, mentorship, and leadership in the field. We invite everyone to celebrate Dr. Albert Camarillo in Seattle, Washington at the NACCS 47th Annual Conference during the Awards Dinner on Friday evening.
Fall 2019 Vol. 44 No. 1