Vicki Ruiz, UCI Distinguished Professor of History and Chair of Chicano/Latino Studies, was named an honoree for the 2015 National Women’s History Month and was also awarded the National Humanities Medal. Ruiz was the first in her family to earn an advanced degree and has been a major force in shaping the field of Chicano/Latino studies. She has written extensively about the role of Mexican American women in the history of the U.S. Southwest and Pacific Coast. Her more than 35-year academic career has been spent studying and telling the historical accounts of Latina women as they fought for civil and labor rights. In 2012, she became the first Latina historian inducted into the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Her past honors include a presidential nomination to the National Council on the Humanities and Latina magazine’s “Woman of the Year” award in 2000. In 2006, she co-edited Latinas in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia. She serves on one advisory board for the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. She also serves on the board of Imagining America: Scholars and Artists in Public Life, the national action research consortium. She has served as president of several major scholarly associations, including the Organization of American Historians, the American Studies Association, and American Historical Association.