The Institute for Latino Studies is founded upon the outstanding intellectual tradition established by Julian Samora (1920–1996), an esteemed Notre Dame professor in the Department of Sociology from 1959 to 1985. ILS’s Director Gilberto Cárdenas and Associate Director for Border and Inter-American Affairs Jorge Bustamante are among his many protégés, and in 1997 the Julian Samora Chair in Latino Studies was established in his honor.

A pioneering scholar of Mexican American studies, Samora focused on civil rights and discrimination, public health, and rural poverty. Frequent personal encounters with anti-Chicano prejudice in the course of his education strengthened his determination and his vision of the role of scholarship in the struggle against racial/ethnic hostility and ignorance. In 1953 he completed his studies at Washington University in St. Louis to become the first (known) Mexican American to earn a US doctorate in sociology and anthropology.

He cofounded the Southwest Council of La Raza, which became the National Council of La Raza, and helped found the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project. He served on numerous governmental and private boards and commissions, including the US Commission on Civil Rights, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the President’s Commission on Rural Poverty.

At Notre Dame he directed the Mexican Border Studies Project, founded the Mexican American Graduate Studies program and, together with his wife Betty, reached out as friend and mentor to generations of Latino students. The Samoras also campaigned actively for labor and immigrant rights on campus, in the local community, and throughout the Midwest.

Samora’s numerous publications include La Raza: Forgotten Americans and Mexican Americans(1966), Los Mojados: The Wetback Story(1971), A History of the Mexican American People(1977), and Gunpowder Justice: A Reassessment of the Texas Rangers(1979), all published by the University of Notre Dame Press. He was presented with the White House Hispanic Heritage Award in 1985 and, alongside labor leader Cesar Chavez, received the Aguila Azteca medal from the Mexican government in 1990.

The Hispanic Alumni of Notre Dame have set up a scholarship fund in Dr. Samora's honor. More information and application form.