UTPA president announces retirement

EDINBURG — University of Texas-Pan American President Blandina "Bambi" Cárdenas announced publicly Tuesday she would retire at the end of the month.

Cárdenas — who served as the university's president for more than four years and was its first female president - said in a prepared statement "the pressures of the last several months have seriously taxed my health and well-being and impaired my ability to lead the University with the intensity and focus I believe necessary."

The University of Texas System has been investigating whether Cárdenas plagiarized her doctoral dissertation after an anonymous source made that allegation in October. However, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where Cárdenas received her doctorate in educational leadership and administration in 1974, has said it would not investigate anonymous claims.

The UT system did not come to a conclusion in its investigation and has decided not to pursue it further because of the retirement, said David Prior, the UT System's executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.

"The matter is closed," Prior said.

Cárdenas underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery in September 2007 and returned to work a month later.

Now the system will focus on finding a new president for the university and will begin a nationwide search, he said.

She told the UT System's then-interim chancellor Kenneth Shine she wanted to retire from UTPA at the end of January, according to a letter she sent to colleagues Tuesday.

Her retirement is a big loss for the university and the Rio Grande Valley, said Paul Sale, the university's provost and vice president for academic affairs. Sale will oversee the university until the UT System appoints an interim president.

"Her integrity was beyond reproach. What she said behind closed doors she said in public," Sale said.

Sale credited Cárdenas with moving the university to a research-focused institution and expanding its financial aid program. The university increased the maximum family income from $25,000 to $30,000 to receive free tuition for four years of school.

Under her tenure several of the university's programs, including engineering and health care professions, grew, and its study abroad program expanded to 34 countries, Sale said.

Now it's up to those remaining at the university to continue the work she started, the provost said.

UTPA also plans to expand its services to Starr County and McAllen. The university is building a facility in Starr County that will house upper-level undergraduate classes to students there and is working with the city of McAllen to open a center offering graduate-level courses.

South Texas College President Shirley Reed called Cárdenas' retirement "a tremendous step backward for the Rio Grande Valley."

"Dr. Cardenas is a valued friend and colleague. She did much to nurture the relationship and partnerships between UTPA and STC. Under her leadership, UTPA and STC were able to forge many successful partnerships and collaborations all focused on student success," Reed said in a prepared statement STC released.   

"I have every confidence the new UT-system chancellor, Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, will find the right president who will continue Dr. Cardenas' efforts at UTPA." 

Jennifer L. Berghom covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462.