KU executive vice chancellor to receive leadership award at Latina conference

LAWRENCE -- Janet Murguia, executive vice chancellor for university relations at the University of Kansas, will receive the 2003 Ana Riojas Leadership Award Friday at the third annual Midwest Latina Conference at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City, Mo.

The annual award is presented to a businessperson who has exhibited exemplary leadership skills in his or her professional, business and community involvement. Murguia will receive the award at a luncheon Friday.

The two-day conference -- sponsored by American Family Insurance, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City and MANA de Kansas City -- begins today.

Murguia became executive vice chancellor for university relations at KU in 2001. She oversees the university's internal and external relations with the public, including governmental and public affairs. A former deputy assistant to President Bill Clinton and a deputy campaign manager for the Al Gore/Joseph Lieberman presidential campaign, Murguia serves on the board of directors for the National Council of La Raza, the largest Hispanic advocacy organization in the United States, as well as the board of directors for YouthFriends, a nationally recognized school-based mentoring effort.

Hispanic magazine in June named Murguia to its annual list of 100 top Latinas, and last fall Hispanic Business magazine included her in its list of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the country.