Two administrators at California State University, Fresno will be among this year’s Vida en el Valle Valley Heritage Award (Premios Herencia del Valley) winners.

Benjamin Cuellar, (far right) dean of the College of Health and Human Services, and Berta González, (near right) associate vice president of Continuing and Global Education, are among six award recipients recognized for their contributions to the Latino community.

Cuellar will be honored for his contributions in the field of health and González for her dedication to the field of education. The award ceremony will be Wednesday, Oct. 11, at the Fresno Art Museum.

Cuellar, who was born in Visalia a year after his parents migrated from Mexico, joined Fresno State in 1978.  Serving the university for almost three decades, he has made numerous contributions in the health and human services arena, to the Hispanic community, and the Central California region.

He has played a leadership role in the development of several Institutes and programs at Fresno State. They include the: Central California Center for Health and Human Services, Central Valley Health Policy Institute, Social Welfare Evaluation, Research and Training Center, Central California Public Health Partnership, Public Health Training Academy, and the Central California Children’s Institute.

Cuellar continues to develop strong collaborations with county directors of health and human services, educational leaders, institutions, and programs throughout the Central Valley and the state.

Over the years, he has built strong relationships with the Hispanic community and has been instrumental in creating partnerships to address the health and human service needs of underserved populations in Central California.  Cuellar is a founding member and past president of the California Latino Social Work Network and also past member of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California.

In 2003, he was awarded a prestigious leadership fellowship from Hispanic Associations of Colleges and Universities (HACU) that aimed to prepare more Hispanics to be senior administrators in higher education.  Two years later, Cuellar was nominated to serve on the HACU Health Sciences Advisory Council.  In 2005, he received an outstanding leadership award for Hispanic Heritage Month.

González specializes in preparing teachers and administrators and in international education. She currently serves as associate vice president for the Division of Continuing and Global Education. She is the university’s leader in providing guidance and direction for all university partnerships, formal international agreements and programs abroad, as well as in promoting opportunities for students and faculty to study, teach and engage in research projects in countries around the world.

Under her leadership the division offers innovative courses, institutes, conferences, for students and professionals in the region served by the university as well as the delivery of online programs abroad.  New and innovative campus-based programs that bring young children as well as senior citizens to campus have been implemented under her direction with several off-campus professional degree programs offered in the region.

In recent years, she administered a professional preparation program for CSU students in Mexico City who returned to California schools as bilingual teachers. Through partnerships with the Association of Mexican American Educators, Fresno chapter, a number of Mexican teachers had the opportunity to visit and team with American teachers in California, Kentucky and North Carolina.

In spring 2005, González was one of four higher education representatives who participated in a business, education, health and cultural exchange with the state of Oaxaca under the sponsorship of the Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce. Her involvement with the higher education institutions resulted in a collaborative agreement with several universities in Oaxaca.