Cantú Returns to Laredo Oct. 30 for Book-Signing

Dr. Norma E. Cantú, former Texas A&M International University faculty member, will return to her hometown for a reading from “Flor y ciencia:  Chicanas in Science, Mathematics and Engineering,” a new book she has edited, on Monday, Oct. 30 from 7- 9 p.m. in the Student Center auditorium.

The event is free of charge and open to the public.

Published this year by the San Antonio-based Adelante Project, “Flor y ciencia” gathers stories of extraordinary women growing up Chicana with an interest in mathematics and sciences. Both funny and haunting, the 180-page book details the lives of women who broke barriers and overcame obstacles to follow their path and become leaders in their fields.

Nine inspiring stories are shared, including that of Dr. Elma González, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology who recalls toiling as a farmworker in beet fields; Dr. María Elena Zavala, professor of biology, who recalls the punishment meted out to children who spoke Spanish during recreation period and Laredo native Dr. Martha Cecilia Zúñiga professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, who remembers the pride and magic of the day she received her first Laredo Public Library card. 

Another Laredo native, Dr. Diana Marinez, professor of biochemistry and dean of science and technology, recalls playing in Chacon Creek and discovering veins of mica rock.

Also featured in the book are Dr. Cleopatria Martínez, professor of mathematics and chair, Phoenix College, Arizona; Dr. Lupita Montoya, assistant professor of Environmental Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York; Dr. Elva Elisa Niebla, national coordinator for the USDA Forest Service Global Change Research Program; Dr. Elizabeth Rodríguez-Johnson, senior policy analyst, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics; Elsa C. Ruíz, doctoral candidate in mathematics, Texas A&M University and Dr. María Elena Zavala, professor of biology, California State University.

Dr. Cantú currently serves as professor of English at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

She received her Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska--Lincoln.  She is the editor of a book series, Rio Grande/Rio Bravo: Borderlands Culture and Tradition, at Texas A&M University Press.

A member of the Board of Trustees of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, she is the author of the award-winning Canícula Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera, and co-editor of Chicana Traditions: Continuity and Change, she has just finished a novel, Cabañuelas and is currently working on another novel tentatively titled: Champú, or Hair Matters, and an ethnography of the Matachines de la Santa Cruz, a religious dance drama from Laredo.

For additional information, contact the TAMIU Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at 326.2180, e-mail prmis@tamiu.edu or visit offices located in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 268.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu