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Ricardo Nazario-Colón Bio
Dr. Ricardo Nazario-Colón is an accomplished Higher Education Administrator with over twenty years of experience in various industries, including the U.S. Military, Colleges & Universities, Corporate Banking, and State Government. He is the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer and Inclusive Executive at Western Carolina University. He also serves as President of the Appalachian Studies Association, 2022-23. He was the former Chair of the University of North Carolina System Diversity and Inclusion Council and the Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic Latino Affairs.
He is a published poet with numerous publications in journals and anthologies and has authored two poetic books “Of Jíbaros and Hillbillies,” Plain View Press 2011 and The Recital, Winged City Press 2011. His forthcoming books under contract are “The Moor of the Bronx,” Finishing Line Press 2022, and “Latinx Voices in Appalachia” University Press of Kentucky, 2024. His research focuses on Black culture centers, multiracial identity experience, student leadership development, and African American faculty and staff retention.
He is a former U.S. Marine, a Life member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., and a co-founder of the Affrilachian Poets. He earned a Doctorate in Higher Education Leadership from Western Carolina University, a Masters in Secondary Education from Pace University, and a Bachelors in Spanish Literature and Latin American Studies from the University of Kentucky. |
