The recipient of the 2016 Tortuga Award is Rosalía Solórzano Torres, who will be honored at the Awards Banquet on Saturday, August 6^th, during the MALCS Summer Institute at the University of Wyoming-Laramie.

Rosalía is a pioneer of Chicana/o Studies, establishing many Chicana/o Studies courses and degree programs at various institutions. Rosalía began researching Mexican migrant women in 1976 and teaching in the field in 1979. She is co-editor of Chicana/o Studies: Survey and Analysis (KendallHunt 2007) and is finalizing her second chapbook of poetry, Borderoleando al Amor. Rosalía has a Masters in Sociology and Spanish from the University of Texas at El Paso and advanced to doctoral candidacy in sociology at Michigan State University, East Lansing. She was Associate Director at the Center for Inter-American and Border Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso and has received research and teaching appointments at the Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies at the University of California at San Diego, the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at University of Texas at El Paso, the Chicana and Chicano Studies Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder, El Paso Community College, and Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona. Rosalía received a Masters in Counseling and Guidance from Webster University in 1992, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and received Diplomate status by the American Psychotherapy Association. At present, she and Dr. James Hernández are working with other faculty to create a degree in Mexican American and Women’s Studies at Pima Community College where both currently teach.