Celebrating our Hispanic Heritage Alumni

We are thrilled to celebrate our Hispanic heritage Judge Memorial and St. Mary of the Wasatch alumni during National Hispanic Heritage Month. Thank you to all the Hispanic heritage alumni who continue to strengthen our Judge community and enrich our lives.

We know there are many more Hispanic heritage alumni in the Judge and St. Mary’s community who deserve to be recognized and honored. So if you know a Hispanic heritage alumnus who you would like us to celebrate or you would like to share your own story with us please click here.

Margy Gonzales ’51 was the first Hispanic heritage Homecoming queen in the 1950-51 school year.

Dick Lovato ’53 was a football team co-captain with Gilbert Martinez in 1952.

Gilbert Martinez ’53 was a football team co-captain with Dick Lovato in 1952

Robert Rendon’69 is an executive vice president at Zions Bank. He is Zions CRA Director and Community Outreach Director. He is well known and respected in the Salt Lake community, Utah community, and national Hispanic community.

Matthew Jimenez M.D. 79 is an orthopaedic surgeon and partner at the Illinois Bone & Joint Institute.

The Honorable Renee Jimenez ’82 was appointed a Juvenile Court Judge in 2013 by Governor Gary Herbert. She received an undergraduate degree from the University of Utah in 1988 and a law degree from the University of Utah College of Law in 1991.

Rick Garcia ‘88 has been the Marketing Director-Business Development at Mechanical Service and Systems for the last 16 years.

Maria Stallings-Ostrowski ‘89 is a director with Joiya Wellness. The Joiya community reaches out to help people live their best life using daily wellness practices.

Martín Muñoz ‘92 is a KIDS COUNT Data Analyst at Voices For Utah Children. He received his MPA from the University of Utah in 2018 and is the current board president of the University of Utah Pi Alpha Honor Society.

Luisa Hart ‘95 has worked in memory care as an activity director for much of her career. She is a Certified Dementia Practitioner through the NCCDP and works with a non-profit long-term care community. Luisa currently lives in Overland Park, Kansas.

Marcos Espinoza ‘97 is the founder and CEO of Side Project Beef Jerky in the Philadelphia area.

Nicole Salazar-Hall ‘98 is a shareholder with Parsons Behle & Latimer and was appointed by Salt Lake City Mayor Mendenhall to serve as a Core Commissioner on the Salt Lake City Racial Equity in Policing Commission in July 2020.

Dominique Suarez ‘98 is the Human Resources Manager for Delta Airlines in Salt Lake City. She has been an HR professional for over 15 years.

Victoria Gonzalez Cabal ’01 is the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Research Director at the University of Utah.

Rosalba Dominguez ’01 is on the Murray City Council.

Danielle Ypiña Gangadeen ‘01 is one of the first to join Space Force from serving in the U.S. Air Force for over 19 years.

Megan Chacon ‘03 is a principal lawyer at Fish & Richardson in San Diego, CA. She received a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Utah in 2008 and a law degree from Boston University School in 2011.

Mallory Elizondo ‘03 is In-House Counsel at Calendly in Atlanta, GA. She received her law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 2019 and a B.A. degree in International Relations and U.S. Foreign Policy from American University in 2012.

Nichole Garcia ‘06 is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education at Rutgers University Graduate School of Education. She received her Ph.D. in Education from University of California, Los Angeles in 2016.

Danielle Valdez ’06 is a senior outreach and network development specialist at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute.

Matthew Jimenez ‘08 is a clinical and neurodevelopmental therapist at New Focus Academy in Heber, Utah where he works with struggling teen boys. 

Xochitl Juarez ’10 is a mother of two boys and a full-time University of Utah student double majoring in Social Work and Ethnic Studies with an emphasis in Social Justice and Advocacy. She is also the co-chair of SOMOS, a student led organization for the support of undocumented students.

Anthony Minjarez ‘10 is a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He received a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Utah in 2019.

Melissa Aguilar-Padilla ’17 is a sixth year pre-medical student at the University of Utah majoring in Kinesiology and minor in Nutrition.

Ben Butcher ‘17 graduatin= from the University of Southern California this year and has been selected as a member of the NFL Rotational Program. For the next two years, he will be participting in the highly selective program by rotating through various departments and offices within the NFL.

Kianna Chacon ‘19 is currently an academic advisor for Colorado Mesa University where she is seeking a degree in Secondary Education with a focus in English. She  plans to get her Masters and PhD in Higher Education Administration and Counseling Psychology at the University of Utah.

Jacob Fausto ‘19 is studying computer science at Brown University.  He was selected as one of 20 Scholar of the Year finalists for the 2021 Hispanic Scholarship Fund Leaders in Education Awards.

Carlos Padilla ‘19 is studying marketing and history at the University of Utah.  He received the Internships of the Year Award from the University of Utah Career and Professional Development Center for his 2021 internship at the Utah House of Representatives.

Rene Valles ‘19 is pre-med in his third year at the University of Utah studying kinesiology. He has been volunteering  as a Spanish interpreter once a week for several years at the Hope Clinic in Midvale where he serves the underserved populations.