Alumni Spotlight
September 29, 2017
As we near the end of Homecoming 2017: Living La Vida Lobo, we would like to recognize Alumni Miguel Estrada. Miguel is currently an Associate Professor, and Chair of English and Modern Languages at Houston Baptist University.
"I was born in El Paso, Texas. I grew up in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. I moved to El Paso to live with my Godmother when I was 15 years old and my parents stayed in Mexico. My parents and I decided that it was best for me to move to El Paso to get a better education in the United States. I graduated from Eastwood High School in 1988 and decided to start my undergraduate studies in El Paso Community College. In 1993, I graduated with a Bachelors, majoring in Spanish and Secondary Education from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). I taught Spanish all levels in Parkland High in El Paso, TX. from 1993 to 1998.
I moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to pursue a masters in Spanish Literature in 1998 with the goal of obtaining a doctoral degree in the future. My dream was to become a Spanish college professor. I graduated with a masters in Spanish Literature in the year 2000, the same year that my only daughter Laura was born. Also in the year 2000, I got accepted in the doctoral program at the University of New Mexico (UNM). During my years as a graduate student at HBU, I supported my family working as a Teacher Assistant and as a computer technician at the department of Spanish and Portuguese at UNM. I am very grateful to UNM for all the educational opportunities that I received from all the professors. In particular, I will always remember Dr. Anthony Cardenas, because he was the best professor that I ever had during my college years. I will always remember the Study Abroad, Conexiones, UNM trip that I did with a group of 25 students to Santiago de Compostela in the summer of 2004. I was designated to a group with Dr. Cardenas and 3 students. I remember how passionate was Dr. Cardenas was about explaining Medieval Spanish Literature in historical sites, where we travelled during that magical and unforgettable trip. I will always remember his academic and life lessons. Dr. Cardenas became my mentor during that trip and later on, I had countless academic and informal conversations with him. He was always very generous with his time and he inspired me to be patient and a good listener.
I graduated in 2005 from UNM with a Ph.D. in Spanish Literature. At soonest I graduated I got a job at Houston Baptist University (HBU) in the same year 2005. In 2010, I graduated with a second masters in School Administration from HBU. I became the department chair of English and Modern Languages in 2012 at HBU. Presently, I continue working in my role as a department chair and I currently teach in Spanish and in the masters of MLA and Bilingual Education. I have been the sponsor of the HBU Hispanic Student Organization since 2005."
HBU Acomplishments and Recognitions of Miguel Estrada
Dr. Estrada was honored with the Opal Goolsby Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence in 2008 at Houston Baptist University. He served as HBU’s nominee for the Piper Professor Award in 2012. The Piper Professor Award is an annual Texas statewide competition in which each university chooses one professor to represent the school. Dr. Estrada was also the Texas Foreign Language Association University Spanish College Teacher of the Year 2012. He was appointed President of the HBU Faculty Assembly during fall 2016 and spring 2017.
