María Teresa Venegas

During her 18 years (1980-1998) at LMU, Professor María Teresa Venegas tirelessly promoted LMU’s Catholic, Jesuit, Ignatian, and Marymount tradition through her teaching and advising, scholarship, and service. Professor Venegas came to the university from Immaculate Heart College and was instrumental in the establishment and growth of the Chicano Studies Department (now Chicana/o Latina/o Studies). In 1987, she transferred to the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, where she again chaired, as well as taught Spanish language and Latin American literature courses until her retirement in 1998. She was an unassuming leader for the Latinx community, and always advocated to increase the number of Latino faculty and students in the department, college and the entire university.

Professor Venegas earned her Ph.D. in Latin American literature from UCLA in 1975. Her dissertation focused on her area of expertise, folklore research. Her work powerfully associates with reconstructing Latino community through family stories and oral testimony. Her book "Letters Home: Mexican Exile Correspondence from Los Angeles, 1927-1932" is based on documents she donated to the William H. Hannon Library’s Department of Archives and Special Collections, “The Venegas Family Papers.” The collection describes the life of Professor Venegas’ parents, Cristero refugees from the Cristero War in Mexico (1926-1929), who came to Los Angeles in 1927 to form a large and important family in the Latino community of the city. Professor Venegas stepped into leadership roles, endured difficult politics, and navigated her career at LMU as a woman during an era where that was rare and challenging. She was tough, and lead with a firm grace, and a firm set of convictions. Her connections to LMU did not end with her retirement. Professor Venegas' legacy continues as her large family continues a robust relationship with our university.