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Friday, June 12, 2009
State Historian To Lead Hispanic Center
Journal Staff Report
State historian Estevan Rael-Gálvez is the new executive director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque.
Stuart Ashman, secretary of the state Cultural Affairs Department, made the announcement at the center's board of directors' meeting Thursday.
Ashman said in a news release that "as the state's leading authority on New Mexico history and a passionate advocate for our state's cultural tradition, Estevan is ideally suited and soundly qualified to lead this crucial national institution."
Rael-Gálvez, 40, was picked after an extensive search by the center's board.
He told the Journal that in the short term, he needs to learn how the center is run as a Cultural Affairs division. In the long term, he said he wants to continue to increase the capacity of its various components "so everything is working together a little bit more cohesively. ... I want to create a shared vision."
Born in La Jara, Colo., Rael-Gálvez was raised in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. His parents mostly raised sheep and cows "at the base of Ute Mountain so our ranch was on both sides (of the state line)." And he said he spent some of his youth living with his grandmother in Questa.
He holds a bachelor's degree in English and ethnic studies from the University of California-Berkeley and received his master's and doctorate degrees in American cultural studies from the University of Michigan.
Rael-Gálvez has been the state historian since 2001. During that time, he created the New Mexico Digital History Project and developed research fellowships and student internships.
He will assume his new post July 25. He replaces Eduardo Díaz, who left in December to become director of the Smithsonian Institution's Latino Center.
Danny Lopez, the center's marketing/public relations head, has been interim executive director since Díaz's departure.
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