For this special edition on ‘Higher Education Careers,’ Diverse caught up with some legends whose careers have made an indelible impact on the academy. We found that even in retirement, or semi-retirement, these pioneers never venture far from the passions that made them great educators and diversity advocates.
Retirement, Interrupted
After occupying almost every position higher education has to offer — from a librarian, dean and president to vice chancellor of one of the nation’s largest community college systems — Dr. Alfredo de los Santos Jr. Thought he was done with academe.
“I just wanted to rest a little while to get away from the politics and all the things one has to deal with,” says de los Santos, who spent more than 20 years at the Maricopa County Community Colleges. “I was cansado. …I was tired.”
But just as soon as he retired from nearly four decades of academic administration, officials at Arizona State University at Tempe offered him a job in 2000.
Now split between two departments, de los Santos makes his own hours as a research professor at the Hispanic Research Institute Graduate School of Education and the Mary Fulton Institute: Division of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at ASU. De los Santos says the stress-free schedule allows him to care for his wife while advising graduate students.
Working directly with students has rejuvenated his passion for educational research and allowed the 73-year-old to update his previous research. He recently co-authored a couple of articles tracking student transfers from Maricopa to ASU, as well as the mobility and advancement of Hispanic college presidents.
