APLU Announces 2024 Malone International Leadership Award Recipient 

Washington, DC – The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) today announced that Uriel Nuño Gutiérrez, rector of the Northern University Center (CUNorte) at the University of Guadalajara, is the winner of the 2024 Malone International Leadership Award. The Malone Award, a national honor sponsored by APLU and given annually, recognizes individuals who advance international education at public universities. 

“Congratulations to Uriel Nuño Gutiérrez on winning the 2024 Michael P. Malone International Leadership Award,” said APLU President Mark Becker. “His more than 30 years of work to advance innovative and inclusive international programs across education, research, and engagement embodies the core values of the Malone Award.” 

Nuño Gutiérrez, MSc is being recognized for his efforts to advance innovation through international inclusion, scholarship, and research.  

As rector of CUNorte at the University of Guadalajara, Nuño Gutiérrez redesigned the institution’s model of community outreach to increase the positive impact of the university in the state of Jalisco, particularly for indigenous communities. Part of this model is a new educational offering to meet professional training needs, such as a Bachelor’s Degree in Indigenous Education, Tourism Development, and Legal Pluralism.

Nuño Gutiérrez has also overseen the establishment of Collaborative Online International Learning classes at CUNorte as well as the availability of COIL classes from institutions abroad.  

To help support early undergraduate participation in research, he helped advance the Delfín Program, in which undergraduate students participate in a seven-week stay with distinguished local researchers, as well as researchers from Colombia, Peru, and other countries. The program culminates in the holding of an International Congress, where students present the results of their work.

Prior to his role as rector, he served as director of the Culture and Society Division of CUNorte, where he led the Prize for Indigenous Literature of the Americas – an annual award recognizing writers in indigenous languages of the North American continent.

As a researcher, his interests have focused on different topics, mainly those related to indigenous populations and the complex social structures related to the identification of census categories, as state mechanisms of exclusion and discrimination against indigenous peoples, particularly in the state of Jalisco. The results of his research represent an important contribution while marking a critical reference for new researchers in the field. 

APLU’s Office of International, Community, & Economic Engagement leads the association’s diverse array of international initiatives. These initiatives help support campus internationalization, enhance and expand study abroad opportunities, strengthen engagement with the developing world, and support members’ efforts to engage with partners worldwide to address global challenges. 

The Malone Award honors the legacy of the late Michael P. Malone, a champion of international education and one-time chair of the APLU Commission on International Education. Malone served as president of Montana State University from 1991 until his death in 1999.