Carlos Gutiérrez

http://www.calstatela.edu/

In his 30 years at Cal State L.A., Professor Carlos Gutiérrez has mentored several hundred students through programs funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation, and the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation. Gutiérrez is the director of Cal State L.A.’s NIH Minority Access to Research Careers and Minority Biomedical Research Support programs, and faculty coordinator and mentor for its Beckman Scholars program.

Gutiérrez, whose Ph.D. is from UC Davis, has served on and chaired various NIH committees, subcommittees and the NIGMS Council, and is a member of the National Research Council Board on Higher Education Workforce, and the California Council on Science and Technology. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a National Associate of the National Academies of Science and the National Research Council.

Gutiérrez’ research straddles the interface between organic, inorganic and biological chemistry and focuses on iron acquisition and transport in bacteria. He has published numerous articles, all with student coauthors. In great part through his effort, the American Chemical Society (ACS) established the Committee on Minority Affairs in 1993, with Gutiérrez serving as its first chair. During his tenure as chair, the Society also established the ACS Minority Scholars Program, a $10 million scholarship program for undergraduates, and the ACS Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students to Pursue Careers in Chemical Sciences. Gutiérrez helped to establish the ACS Scholars Program in 1995, and has been active on its behalf since its inception. This scholarship program has supported the career development of more than 1,400 undergraduates.

He was most recently named the 2005 U.S. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in the Master’s University and College category. He was also the recipient of the 2005 Education Award of the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award Corporation (HENAAC).

In 1996, he was among the first individuals named by the President of the United States to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, conferred at a White House ceremony. Additionally, he has received a 1999 Scholar-Fellow award from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation; the Quality Education for Minorities in Mathematics, Science and Engineering (QEM/MSE) Network’s Year 2000 MSE Giants in Science Award; the 2001 American Chemical Society Award for Encouraging Disadvantaged Students into Careers in the Chemical Sciences; and the 2003 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Lifetime Mentor Award. He was one of four CSU faculty members selected for the $20,000 systemwide CSU Wang Family Excellence Award in 2000. He received an award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the educational film, Antimatter.

A CSULA President’s Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Gutiérrez also received the University’s Outstanding Professor Award; the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Cal State L.A. chapter of the national honor society Phi Kappa Phi; and the Cal State L.A. Hispanic Support Network Outstanding Educator Award. He is particularly proud of the “Honored Faculty Award” given him by the Associated Students of Cal State L.A., and of the 2005 Outstanding Chemistry Professor Award from the students of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Gutiérrez is married to Cal State L.A. Chemistry Professor Linda M. Tunstad and is the father of daughters, Naomi Gabriela and Carolina Aurora.