City of Houston to Honor Guadalupe Quintanilla for her Commitment and Service to Community
In addition, Quintanilla has earned national recognition throughout her work with Law Enforcement agencies. The Cross-Cultural Communication program that she developed for officers was selected during the past seven years, by the Department of Defense and by the Department of Justice, as the best of its kind in the country. She was invited by representatives from those departments to provide the training in Cross-Cultural Communication, to 16 law enforcement agencies responsible for security during the Pan American Games. Quintanilla receives many invitations from colleges, universities and law enforcement agencies to discuss the success of her programs.
Dr. Quintanilla has received, under different presidents, several nominations and appointments. In 1984, she became the first Hispanic U.S. Representative to the United Nations. She also was the first Hispanic to serve as an International Correspondent for the United Nations; as co-chair to the National Institute of Justice; and as co-chair to the National Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.
Her latest nomination was as assistant attorney general of the United States, an honor that she declined.
Other honors include induction to the National Hispanic Hall of Fame and to the Hispanic Women Hall of Fame. She also was named outstanding executive women and chosen to be a part of “The State of Texas Outstanding Women,” traveling exhibition. There are several books written about her that are used in schools across the nation as well as several scholarships in her name. Recently, the DuPont Corporation named part of their national training center in Wilmington, Delaware, after her. Quintanilla’s latest honors include being selected as “A Woman of the Century” and as one of 20 women to be included, as part of a permanent exhibit, in the Smithsonian National Museum of Women.
She is the president of the Cross-Cultural Communication Center of Houston and is an associate professor in the University of Houston department of Hispanic Studies. She also has served in various administrative capacities. Quintanilla earned her B.S. degree from Pan American University and her M.A. and Ed.D. from the University of Houston.
Staff reports