The board of trustees of St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, announced the selection of Montserrat Fuentes as the university’s next president. When she takes office on July 1, Dr. Fuentes, a native of Spain, will be the first Hispanic president to lead St. Edward’s University. She will be the second woman to serve in the position.
St. Edward’s University. which is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, enrolls about 3,400 undergraduate students and more than 5,000 graduate students, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Education. Women make up 62 percent of the undergraduate student body.
Dr. Fuentes has been serving as professor of statistics and executive vice president and provost at the University of Iowa. Earlier, she served on the faculty at North Carolina State University and was dean of Humanities and Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“St. Edward’s is an immensely vibrant institution with boundless opportunities,” Dr. Fuentes said. “I look forward to helping St. Edward’s reach the next level of excellence, while continuing the university’s commitment to offer a relevant, personalized, and transformative educational experience that prepares students to be driven by purpose and to aspire to bring positive change to our world.”
Dr. Fuentes is a graduate of the University of Valladolid in Spain, where she double majored in music and piano and mathematics and statistics. She holds a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Chicago.