Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

About

Eliseo "Cheo" Torres

Eliseo "Cheo" Torres has served as Vice President for Student Affairs/Full Professor at the University of New Mexico (UNM) since 1996. He is responsible for all facets of student life, which include programs such as El Centro de la Raza, African American and American Indian Student Services, Women's Resource Center, Student Union, Student Activities, Student Health and Counseling Center, Career Services, etc. He teaches classes on traditional medicine, and regularly lectures and gives presentations on the history and lore of curanderismo to audiences ranging from scholars and students of Latin American culture to people hoping to become knowledgeable about alternative and traditional medicine, including lay people and medical professionals alike. He has published four books on his life and his research in traditional medicine emphasizing medicinal plant and rituals published by the University of New Mexico Press and Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. At UNM, he has been a member of several faculty doctoral dissertation committees. He was involved with the Prince of Asturia Endowed Chair for Science and Technology funded by Ibredola Power Company of Spain and supports the annual Mezquite Scholarship Golf Tournament that has generated about $1.5 Million for student scholarships. Among other initiatives, Dr. Torres has been involved as an Institute for Mexicans Abroad (IME) advisor to Mexican Presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon for improving lives of immigrants in the United States, and he received the OHTLI Award from the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before he came to the University of New Mexico, Dr. Torres served as Vice President for External Affairs at Texas A&M University-Kingsville as well as teaching in the Bilingual Doctoral Program. He has also served as Interim President and Vice President of Student Affairs.