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Waded Cruzado
Waded Cruzado (born January 16, 1960) is a Puerto Rican professor of Spanish language and Spanish literature. She served as Interim President of New Mexico State University from 2008 to 2009, the 12th President of Montana State University from 2010 to 2025, and since 2025 has served as the 5th President of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.
Waded Cruzado was born in 1960 in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, to parents Morgan and Daisy. The oldest of four children, she had a brother and two sisters. She was raised in Mayaguez by her stepfather, Roberto, and her mother. Her grandparents were farmers, but her stepfather worked for a coffee as a trader for a company and her mother was a homemaker.
When she was 10 years old, Cruzado's parents enrolled her in an all-girl parochial school in Mayaguez. Cruzado was the first person in her family to attend college, as she would later go on to enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. She graduated in 1982 magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in comparative literature.
She immediately enrolled at the University of Texas at Arlington. She was the first person in her family to leave Puerto Rico and move to the mainland United States. She earned her master's degree in Spanish language and literature in 1984. She worked as a graduate teaching assistant in the school's Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics from 1983 to 1986, and was appointed an Instructor there.
Cruzado next entered the doctoral program in the humanities from the University of Texas at Arlington. She received her Ph.D. in the humanities in 1990. While earning her doctorate, Cruzado was appointed an instructor in Spanish language at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in 1989.
Cruzado was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Humanities at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM) in 1990, and in 1999, became a full professor. Former students later described her as a good teacher, and one called her "charming, witty, outgoing and eloquent."
In 1993, just prior to her promotion to associate professor, Cruzado was named assistant dean for student affairs in the UPRM College of Arts and Sciences, a position she held until 1995. In 1997, she was elected and served a single term as the faculty representative on the UPRM Administrative Board. A year later, Cruzado was appointed the associate dean for academic affairs in the UPRM College of Arts and Sciences, but after serving only a few months she was appointed as dean. Cruzado left UPRM in 2003 to become dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at New Mexico State University (NMSU), where her fundraising secured donations to endow three professorships.
On September 1, 2007, Cruzado was named executive vice president and provost of NMSU. In 2008, the NMSU Board of Regents appointed Cruzado the interim president. She was the first woman and the second Hispanic president of the school.
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Waded Cruzado
Waded Cruzado (born January 16, 1960) is a Puerto Rican professor of Spanish language and Spanish literature. She served as Interim President of New Mexico State University from 2008 to 2009, the 12th President of Montana State University from 2010 to 2025, and since 2025 has served as the 5th President of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.
Waded Cruzado was born in 1960 in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, to parents Morgan and Daisy. The oldest of four children, she had a brother and two sisters. She was raised in Mayaguez by her stepfather, Roberto, and her mother. Her grandparents were farmers, but her stepfather worked for a coffee as a trader for a company and her mother was a homemaker.
When she was 10 years old, Cruzado's parents enrolled her in an all-girl parochial school in Mayaguez. Cruzado was the first person in her family to attend college, as she would later go on to enrolled at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. She graduated in 1982 magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in comparative literature.
She immediately enrolled at the University of Texas at Arlington. She was the first person in her family to leave Puerto Rico and move to the mainland United States. She earned her master's degree in Spanish language and literature in 1984. She worked as a graduate teaching assistant in the school's Department of Foreign Languages and Linguistics from 1983 to 1986, and was appointed an Instructor there.
Cruzado next entered the doctoral program in the humanities from the University of Texas at Arlington. She received her Ph.D. in the humanities in 1990. While earning her doctorate, Cruzado was appointed an instructor in Spanish language at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in 1989.
Cruzado was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Humanities at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (UPRM) in 1990, and in 1999, became a full professor. Former students later described her as a good teacher, and one called her "charming, witty, outgoing and eloquent."
In 1993, just prior to her promotion to associate professor, Cruzado was named assistant dean for student affairs in the UPRM College of Arts and Sciences, a position she held until 1995. In 1997, she was elected and served a single term as the faculty representative on the UPRM Administrative Board. A year later, Cruzado was appointed the associate dean for academic affairs in the UPRM College of Arts and Sciences, but after serving only a few months she was appointed as dean. Cruzado left UPRM in 2003 to become dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at New Mexico State University (NMSU), where her fundraising secured donations to endow three professorships.
On September 1, 2007, Cruzado was named executive vice president and provost of NMSU. In 2008, the NMSU Board of Regents appointed Cruzado the interim president. She was the first woman and the second Hispanic president of the school.
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