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The Rice Thresher
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by Matt Cuddihy Thresher staff
Hector Ruiz, who received his doctorate in electrical engineering from Rice in 1972, spoke in McMurtry Auditorium in Duncan Hall Wednesday afternoon. Before Ruiz's appointment as CEO of Advanced Microdevices, one of the largest manufacturers of computer microprocessors, Ruiz worked for 22 years at Motorola and for five years at Texas Instruments. He earned his undergraduate and masters degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Texas, and got his Ph.D. at Rice. President Malcolm Gillis, who introduced Ruiz, said, "He's taken a strong, professional leadership role by giving back to his community." In Ruiz's speech, entitled "Self Worth," he told the story of his own education. He grew up in the Mexican border town of Piedras Negras, the son of poor parents. He said he played in a rock-and-roll band and considered becoming an auto mechanic, but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine becoming the CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation. Ruiz credits a local missionary with initiating his road to success. After Ruiz learned English at 15, the missionary convinced him that he should attend high school at Eagle Pass. Ruiz described how his mother worked nights to give him this chance, and he said she never let him go to school without wearing a clean, ironed shirt, even though it stretched the family's resources. Ruiz said at this point in his life, his father gave him a great piece of advice. "The only way society will get better is if the next generation is better than the one before," Ruiz said. He said his family made his success possible by giving him a strong feeling of self-worth. By the time he and his wife started a family, in his mid-twenties, Ruiz said he became determined to make the next generation of people, especially Hispanics, better than the one before it. To do so, he said that self-esteem was critical. "Self worth is the single most important building block to being able to have a chance at doing better than the generation before," said Ruiz. Ruiz said that the family as an entity is especially important to Hispanics, but that it is being destroyed. He emphasized that in order to recapture the value of self worth it is vital to strengthen family values. Ruiz said that the second most important building block in creating better futures for Hispanics is education. Quoting the now-famous slogan of the U.S. Army, Ruiz said education allows one to "be all that he can be," and that, more than just a degree, education is preparation for life. He noted that he used to be biased toward encouraging youths to study science, math, and engineering, until one day a budding artist asked him, "Don't I count?" Since then, Ruiz has said that education "must fit the self-worth of the individual." While education reform programs are in the works, they are not projected to come into place until about 2025, and by that time, Ruiz said, Texas could be a second-class state. Ruiz further added that some people work hard so they can attend community colleges , but are blocked from further advancement because of difficulty transferring to major universities. He said the "elitism" of these schools destroys self-worth. Ruiz said that the third major component in bettering the lives of the underprivileged is the technological and informational revolution currently taking place. "The pace of change of technology today is phenomenal," he said. "We have a responsibility to put it to use to close the social divide. I think we can do it much faster." The event, which was followed by a reception complete with a Mariachi band, was sponsored by three Rice Hispanic clubs, Hispanic Association for Cultural Enrichment at Rice, the Association of Latin Engineers and Scientists and the Mexican and Latin-American Student Association.
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