DE LA GARZA, Rodolfo (Rudy)

Rudy, born August 17, 1942, passed away at the age of 75 in New York City on August 5, 2018, after a series of strokes. A native of Tucson, he graduated from Tucson High School in 1960 and received his Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in 1972. He also attended the Thunderbird School of Global Management (International School of Global Management) in Phoenix. Following that he was posted to South America for several years with USAID (United States Agency for International Development). He was a professor at the University of Texas, El Paso, and then for a longer time at the University of Texas, Austin, before joining the faculty of Columbia University in New York City in 2001. While at Columbia Rudy became the Eaton Professor of Administrative Law and Municipal Science, as well as Professor of International and Public Affairs. He was also vice president of research for the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute, a Los Angeles think tank for Latino issues. In 1990 the University of Arizona honored him with a "Distinguished Citizen Award," and in October 2004, the magazine, Hispanic Business, named Rudy as one of this country's 100 most influential Latinos. During that month Ernesto Portillo Jr., writing for the Arizona Daily Star, interviewed him about the possible impact of the Latino voters on the 2004 election between President Bush and John Kerry. Rudy was an author, co-author, editor or co-editor of dozens of books. He was an outstanding person in so many ways, and shall be missed by those who knew him.