
Dr. Angela Diaz '81VPS, '06PH, '16PH
2024 Trailblazer Award Recipient
Angela Diaz, MD, PhD, MPH, is Dean for Global Health, Social Justice, and Human Rights, the Jean C. and James W. Crystal Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, and a Professor in the Department of Global Health and Health Systems Design at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. After earning her medical degree at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, she completed a Master of Public Health from Harvard University and a PhD in Epidemiology from Columbia University.
For 35 years, Dr. Diaz served as the Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center, a unique program that provides comprehensive, interdisciplinary, integrated primary care, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, optical and legal services to young people. Under her leadership, the Center has become one of the largest adolescent-specific health centers in the U.S., serving more than 12,000 young people every year – all at no cost to patients. The Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center is a major training site in the field of adolescent health and medicine, with research funded by NIH.
Dr. Diaz is a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), where she sits on its governing council, is a member of the Committee for the Health and Medicine Division, and chairs the Board on Children, Youth and Families at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dr. Diaz has been a White House Fellow, a member of the Food and Drug Administration Pediatric Advisory Committee, and a member of the Board of Directors of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In 2003, Dr. Diaz chaired the National Advisory Committee on Children and Terrorism for the Department of Health and
Human Services. In 2009, she was appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to the New York City Commission for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) Runaway and Homeless Youth Taskforce.
Dr. Diaz is active in public policy and advocacy in the U.S. and has conducted many international health projects in Asia, Central and South America, Europe, and Africa. She is a frequent speaker at conferences throughout the country and around the world.

Lt. Colonel Jose Negrette '05CC
2024 Emerging Trailblazer Award Recipient
Lt Col Jose Negrette serves as Integration Chief in the Program Integration Division of the Global Power Programs Directorate, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia. He is responsible for the tasking and management of more than 150 Air Force, joint service and international programs to include the F-15, F-16, F-22, F-35, Next Generation Air Dominance, Minuteman III, B-1, B-2, B-52, E-4B NAOC, NC3, Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, B61, Long Range Standoff and Sentinel programs with a $22 billion annual budget.
Previously he served as a diplomat for the United States in Italy as Chief of Defense Cooperation in Armaments at the Office of Defense Cooperation in Rome. He was in charge of cooperative defense procurement programs between the Italian Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense. Under his portfolio were the Italian cooperative participation in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (an $18 billion bilateral relationship), space domain cooperation, and agreements management for personnel exchanges, data exchanges, and cooperative R&D. He previously served as Test Director for a $500 M ACAT-I-equivalent program at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; as a detachment commander, an executive officer, branch chief, program manager, alert officer, and operations officer.
Lt Col Negrette earned his commission in 2008 from Officer Training School. He has an M.S. in Applied Physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a B.A. in Astrophysics from Columbia University. Aside from Italian (Professional Proficiency), he speaks Spanish (Native Speaker) and French (Advanced Level). While at Columbia he was active as a work study student, member of the Society of Physics Students, and regularly volunteered with the Astronomy Department’s public observation nights. He continued his community involvement as a big brother in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization in Ohio, and a science explainer at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and raised in Caguas. He thanks his parents for instilling a sense of wonder about the world and feeding his incessant curiosity. In turn, he thanks Columbia University for giving him deep critical thinking skills, and for being a first open door that led to many other open doors. Paraphrasing Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, for being an umbrella in the rain.
Celebrating 25 Years of LAACU

LAACU Founders
(Left to Right: Adlar Garcia '95CC; Rebecca Castillo '94CC, '06JRN; Alicia Guevara '94CC, '14BUS;
Grissel Seijo '93CC, '99TC; Angelo Falcon '73CC.)
FEATURED PERFORMERS
Sabor
Established in 2003, Sabor is Columbia University’s first Latin Dance Troupe.Sabor is built around two main branches of action. On campus, the troupe leads community-wide workshops, participates in staple Columbia traditions, and puts on an annual Fall Show. The team’s second focus is community action through the Rélevé Program, which is funded entirely by the Fall Show. This two-night program invites BIPOC and FGLI high school students from the greater New York community to take their place at Columbia by learning Latin dances and receiving mentorship from the dancers. Rélevé also offers opportunities to connect with Columbia Admissions and the Financial Aid Office for pre-college support. Above all, Sabor prides itself on providing space and building community around the expression of creativity and identity in relation to Latin and Caribbean cultures.
Mariachi Leones
A new group on campus joining us at El Regreso for the second year in a row!
Support Our Students
Thank you to those who have already supported our students this year. On Giving Day alone the LAACU scholarship had 55 donors totaling $32,326 with two alumni donor matches of $15k and the Alumbra Scholarship received 43 gifts from 35 donors totaling $41,209.
LAACU Scholarship
The Latino Alumni Association of Columbia University (LAACU) is dedicated to serving the needs of the Latino community. LAACU exists to support, promote and channel the academic, social, professional and development interests of Columbia’s Latino community, both past and present. Each year, the LAACU scholarship supports the deserving Columbia College undergraduate students who have supported the University’s educational mission of diversity through demonstrated advocacy and leadership for the Latino community.

Alumbra Scholarship
The Alumbra Scholarship for Leadership in Engineering supports students who are actively engaged in the Latino/a community at Columbia. Alumbra is a Spanish word that means to shine or radiate, to bring forth light. Similarly, the Alumbra Scholarship helps equip future engineering leaders to illuminate the world with their service, intellect, and creativity. The Latino/a community is one of the most underrepresented minority groups in engineering. The Alumbra Scholarship for Leadership in Engineering, launched through the generosity of Ana B. Rodriguez '86 '88 and Marcos Rodriguez '83, and with partnership from LAACU, supports Columbia Latino/a leaders, in service of humanity.

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