Dates

• Existence: 1946-

Biography

Born in Merced, California on June 5, 1946, activist and administrator Nancy "Rusty" Barceló earned the Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Welfare and Corrections from Chico State University in 1969. Barceló arrived at the University of Iowa as a graduate student in 1970. In 1971 she and fellow students Antonio Zavalla and Ruth Pushetonequa founded the Chicano Indian-American Student Union (CIASU). Barceló earned her Master of Arts in Recreational Education in 1972. She left the University of Iowa to assume the position of Coordinator of Educational Opportunity Services at the University of Oregon from 1973 to 1975. After her time in Oregon, Barceló returned to the University of Iowa where, in 1980, she became the first Mexican-American to earn a doctoral degree from the university.

Following her graduation, Barceló was hired by the University of Iowa, where she served as Acting Director of Affirmative Action (1982-1983), Director of Summer Session (1981-1987), Associate Director, Opportunity at Iowa, (1987-1994), Assistant Dean (1981-1995) and Assistant Provost, Opportunity at Iowa (1995-1996). From 1996 to 2001, Barceló was Associate Vice President for Multicultural Affairs and the Chair of the Chicana Studies Department at the University of Minnesota. She left that position in 2001 to become the Vice President for Minority Affairs and Diversity at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Barceló is credited as the moving force behind the National Initiative for Women in Higher Education (NIWHE). Since moving to Washington, she has chaired Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) and the Washington State Native American Advisory Board (NAAB). Her honors include establishment of the Rusty Barceló Award at the University of Minnesota that honors faculty, staff and students who, through their own work on campus, foster multicultural community building. In 2004, Barceló received the Ohtli award, a special recognition presented by the Mexican government to Mexicans or Latinos whose work has benefited Mexicans living abroad.

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