12.17.07
Murano named head of Texas A&M
Self-made immigrant is poised to take the lead at university
AN AMAZING JOURNEY FROM CUBA TO A&M
– Houston Chronicle2
The faded black-and-white photograph shows a family of four in their finest clothes, standing on an airport tarmac. Everyone is smiling, except for the little girl holding her maracas and teddy bear. She is crying.The date: July 4, 1961. It’s the day they fled Cuba, starting an unlikely journey that has landed the toddler — now an accomplished scholar — on the doorstep of a historic presidency at Texas A&M University.
At first glance, Elsa Murano doesn’t fit the profile of the university’s typical chief executive — a white male over age 50. But A&M describes itself as “a unique American institution,” and what’s more uniquely American than a self-made immigrant who relied on her own determination to reach the top?
“It’s a tremendous reflection of what is possible,” Murano said after regents recently named her the only finalist for the presidency. “Only in America can a girl from Havana get to this point.”
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Footnotes
2 = article may expire in a few weeks
