The legacy of ASU Professor, Jose Náñez Sr.

ASU Professor, Jose Náñez, Sr. recently passed away. Náñez was a President’s Professor of Psychology in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and was known for a lifetime of advocacy and groundbreaking science. Horizonte host, Jose Cardenas, spoke with ASU Associate Professor, Manuel de Jesus Hernandez, about Náñez’s legacy.

Náñez was, “born a farmworker and he started his career at community college like most Chicanos and Latinos…they’re afraid to take out loans and also he was a military veteran,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez mentioned that he was very connected to the farmworkers movement, he first met Náñez in 1992 when they would meet alongside other Chicano and Latino faculty and discuss research agendas.

Hernandez also said he was always supportive of community colleges and that higher education.

Náñez helped with a pre-school program in the community of Guadalupe. Hernandez said that this community changed a lot throughout the years and a big reason being the projects Náñez was involved in.

“He’s going to be missed because he was doing research on bilingualism and the effects of them. He was a President’s Scholar and he published about 24…articles plus more and had about 1,226 citations…so he’ll be remembered for his scholarship and he will be remember for what he did, his contribution as a Chicano-Latino faculty to ASU,” Hernandez said.

He added that Náñez, “was a model for other faculty who came in to Arizona State University.”