"Hispanic Business" magazine has named Antonio Cepeda-Benito, dean of faculties and associate provost at Texas A&M University, to the publication’s 2009/2010 list of the nation’s 100 “most influential” Hispanics.

The list also includes Hispanic leaders selected from the halls of power in Washington, the corporate world, information technology professionals, the health care sector, education, the media and other areas.

“Obviously I’m honored and very happy with the recognition, as it is a nice feather on my hat and gives my kids some bragging rights and motivates them to feel proud of their ‘papá,’” Cepeda-Benito says about being recognized by "Hispanic Business." “However, I’m mindful that this recognition may speak more of the high reputation and caliber of Texas A&M University than of my own achievements.”

Cepeda-Benito, a member of the Texas A&M faculty for the past 15 years, holds the rank of professor of psychology and has served as associate dean of faculties and faculty ombudsperson since 2006. He was named dean of faculties in May and succeeds Karan Watson, who was recently promoted to vice provost and currently serves as interim provost and executive vice president for academics.

“I feel fortunate to have been given the opportunity to serve this great university by assuming an important leadership role. I also feel indebted to the many friends and colleagues who have supported and mentored me throughout the years,” Cepeda-Benito adds.

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and has a Ph.D. in psychology from Purdue University. His research connects the disciplines of behavioral neuroscience and clinical psychology to investigate drug addiction and eating disorders. He has published extensively and his research has been supported by grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Texas Department of Health and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology.

He has served almost exclusively Spanish-speaking individuals and supervised students who also work with low-income, Spanish-speaking clients.

Cepeda-Benito has received numerous awards while at Texas A&M, including Psychology Teacher of the Year, the Academic Inspiration Award and various diversity service awards. He has received two National Awards of Excellence from the National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse (NHSN), one for contributions in Public Service (2006) and the other for mentoring (2008). He is a founding member of the steering committee of the RED LatinoAmerica (REDLA) on drug addiction and the founding chair of the International Research Collaboration Subcommittee of the NHSN.

Contact: Tura King at 979-845-4670 or tura-king@tamu.edu or Antonio Cepeda-Benito at acepeda@tamu.edu

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