BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF JOSÉ ANGEL GUTIÉRREZ, PhD, JD
Dr. José Angel Gutiérrez is a graduate of Crystal City High School (1962) in Crystal City, Texas. He has also earned degrees from Texas A&M University at Kingsville (B.A. 1966), St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas (M.A. 1968), University of Texas at Austin (Ph.D. 1976), and University of Houston, Bates College of Law, Houston, Texas (J.D. 1988). He has done other postdoctoral work at Stanford University, Colegio de Mexico, University of Washington, University of Texas-Austin and Centro de Estudios Economicos y Sociales Del Tercer Mundo in Mexico City, Mexico. He is a Professor of Political Science at University of Texas-Arlington and serves on the Faculty Senate for 2008.
His book publications include El Politico: The Mexican American Elected Official (El Paso: Mictla Publications, 1972); A Gringo Manual on How to Handle Mexicans (Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico: Imprenta Velasco Burkhardt, 1974); A War of Words (co-authored) (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1985); The Making of a Chicano Militant: Lessons from Cristal (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1998); My Struggle for the Land: Autobiography of Reies Lopez Tijerina, (translated and condensed, (Houston: Arte Publico Press, 2000); a revised and expanded edition of AGringo Manual on How to Handle Mexicans (Houston: Arte Publico Press, 2001); A Chicano Manual on How to Handle Gringos, (Houston: Arte Publico Press, 2003) and the most recent, Chicanas in Charge: Texas Women in the Public Arena. (Co-authored) (Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 2007) an autobiography for a youth market, The Making of a Civil Rights Leader: José Angel Gutiérrez* and the biography of a student activist, We Won’t Back Down (both with Houston: Arte Publico Press, 2005). He also has written several articles and book chapters over the years, the most recent book chapters being “The Texas Court System,” Chapter 10 in Texas Politics: Individuals Making a Difference, 3rd edition, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2007; “El movimiento Chicano, Vivo o Muerto?” in Tomas Clavo Buezas, Ed., El gigante dormido: El poder Hispano en los Estados Unidos, Madrid, Espana: CATRATA. 2007; “The Beginnings of Chicanismo,” in Hecho en Tejas, Dagoberto Gilb, Ed., Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2007; “Chicano Music, Evolution and Politics to 1950,” in The Roots of Texas Music, Eds. Lawrence Clayton and Joe Specht, (College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2003); and articles “The Legacy of the Chicano Movement,” PUENTES: Revista Mexico-Chicana de Literatura, Cultura, y Arte, Texas A & M University Corpus Christi, Fall 2007, and “Latinas and Deadly Sex: The Politics of HIV/AIDS Reporting,” co-authored with Britt Rios-Ellis, The Journal of Latino-Latin American Studies, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Vol. 2, Number 3, Spring 2007. Other articles include “Binacionalismo en el siglo XXI: Chicanos y mexicanos en los Estados Unidos,” (Fondo Editorial Huaxacac, Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico, 2000); “Experiences of Chicana County Judges in Texas Politics: In Their Own Words,” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 20:1, Spring 1999; and, “Los dos Mexicos,” Extensiones: Revista Interdisciplinaria de la Universidad Intercontinental, Mexico D.F., Mexico 4:1 y 2. 1997.
He was a Visiting Scholar at Texas A & M University Kingsville, Texas during fall 2007 at work on two manuscripts: The Only Ones: Chicano Political Leadership in
Texas, 1950-2004 which is based on 195 oral history ethnographic interviews he conducted between 1996 and 2004 (See 77 of these digitized ethnographic interviews at http://libraries.uta.edu/tejanovoices/ and Albert Pena, Jr.: Dean Emeritus of Chicano Politics in the Southwest. He also is collecting the writings of Albert Pena, Jr., for a possible edited volume on the writings and speeches of this political figure from San Antonio, Texas.
During the Chicano Movement and to the present time, Dr. Gutiérrez was lead organizer, founder and co-founder of several organizations such as the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO), Mexican American Unity Council
(MAUC), Ciudadanos Unidos, Obreros Unidos Independientes, La Raza Unida Party, Winter Garden Project, Becas Para Aztlan, Oregon Council for Hispanic Advancement, Northwest Voter Registration and Education Project, and Grupo de Apoyo para Inmigrantes Latino Americanos (GAILA). He has been the subject of many articles and film documentaries, the most recent being “In Search of Aztlan;” the PBS three-part
Video series, “CHICANO! The Mexican American Struggle for Civil Rights;” and, “Schools: The History of American Education.” He is cited for his scholarship and
noted in many history and political science books for his activism. Last November 2003 he debated Pat Buchanan and in 2006 Jared Taylor, two well-known white nationalists; August 15, 2002 he debated Bill O’Reilly on national television (Fox News) over immigration; and, previously appeared on the Jerry Springer show debating racism with representatives of the Ku Klux Klan and Nation of Islam.
He has received many honors including: “100 Outstanding Latino Texans of the 20th Century” by Latino Monthly, January 2000; “Distinguished Texas Hispanic” by Texas Hispanic Magazine, October 1996; and has received the Distinguished Faculty Award from the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education in June 1995 (re-nominated in 2003); and, also the National Council of La Raza’s Chicano Hero Award in 1994.
Dr. Gutiérrez founded the Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS) at the University of Texas at Arlington in 1994 and served as its Director until December 1996 at which time he became the Special Advisor to the President of the university until December 1998. And, he also is President of the Legal Center of José Angel Gutiérrez, P.C. in Dallas, Texas. He is a member in good standing of various Bar associations and licensed to practice law in various jurisdictions, including the Texas Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Claims, Federal Courts in Texas (Northern and Southern districts) and Tucson, Arizona. Dr. Gutierrez also heads the Greater Dallas Foundation, a civil rights litigation unit.
Dr. Gutiérrez has been elected and appointed to public office since 1970. He has served as an elected Trustee and President of the Crystal City Independent School District (1970-1973), Urban Renewal Commissioner for Crystal City, Texas (1970-1972),
County Judge for Zavala County, Texas (1974-1978, re-elected 1978-1981), Commissioner for the Oregon Commission on International Trade (1983-1985), Administrative Law Judge for the City of Dallas (1990-1992), member of the Ethics Commission for the City of Dallas (1999-2000), State Treasurer for the Mexican American Democrats (2000-2001), and recently appointed to the Judicial Nomination Commission for the City of Dallas (2008).
Dr. Gutiérrez is a frequent speaker at conferences, symposia, and teacher training programs. He presented at the Texas FOCO/NACCS conference, South Texas College, 2008, Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference, Chicago, 2008, University of Chicago, 2007, University of North Texas, 2007, University of Nebraska, Midwest Political Science Association, and Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain in spring 2005. In January 2005 he was the dinner keynote presenter at the American Society of Newspaper Editors Diversity Leadership Institute (Dallas); Fall 2003 he presented at Malcolm X College in Chicago, Illinois and at the James Edward Olmos Latino Book and Family Festival in Houston and Dallas, Texas, and Los Angeles, California; Texas A & M University (College Station); Chicago Principals and Administrators Association Conference; National Association of Hispanic and Latino Studies Conference (Houston); Iberian Studies Institute, University of New Mexico (Albuquerque); Southwestern Social Science Association ; and, Chicana/o Activist Reunion held May 10, 2003, (MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas). In June 2003 he presented at the National Association of Hispanic Federal Aviation Employees and began organizing a series of community based dialogue sessions on issues under the banner of La Raza Unida Issues Summit. See www.larazaunida.com and his oral history project www.tejanovoices.uta.edu During the academic year 2002-2003, he conducted 7 half-day teacher training seminars for the Dallas Independent School District; in the fall 2003 he presented 2 half-day teachers training seminars for Southern Methodist University, and in 1984-85 he was a team trainer for the City of Portland Police Department in Oregon.
* This publication won the New York Times mention for Best Book for Teen Years in 2007.