Mesa Community College President Richard Daniel receives higher-education award

Richard Daniel, Mesa Community College president, was recently honored by the Pete C. Garcia Victoria Foundation with the Dr. Loui Olivas Distinguished Leadership in Higher Education Award.

The award was given Sept. 25 at the Helios Education Foundation, 4747 N. 32nd St. in Phoenix.

The award is named after Olivas, a celebrated Professor Emeritus from Arizona State University and current Pete C. Victoria Foundation president. It celebrates exceptional administrators in higher education who have demonstrated excellence in their profession and have been ardent advocates for Latinx students, faculty and staff, according to a release.

For more than 36 years, Daniel has held leadership positions on college campuses and with organizations to advance higher education for Arizonans. Previously president of South Mountain Community College, he was at Arizona State University for 15 years, led alumni relations and special projects at the University of Texas at El Paso and was the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Education Forward Arizona and College Success Arizona.

From the mining town of Superior, Arizona, as a first generation college graduate, Daniel has a deeply personal understanding of the barriers underrepresented college students can face.

“I believe in the power of postsecondary education to transform lives, and I have made this my life’s work. My career has been focused on championing efforts for students to access higher education opportunities,” Daniel said in the release,

In announcing the awards, the Foundation posted, “Every September, we gather to recognize and honor ‘difference makers’ in our institutions of higher education. Our founding president, Pete C. Garcia, clearly understood that when you have individuals who know how to push agendas and support educational programs that benefit our community, our students flourish. Each of this year’s award recipients exemplify, through their arduous work and accomplishments, why we continue with our annual Arizona Higher Education Awards Breakfast.”