publicly criticizing President Carter's immigration reform proposals. Yzaguirre also criticized President George H. W. Bush for his affirmative action stance even after he had agreed to be the first sitting president to appear at an NCLR Annual Conference. Yzaguirre criticized President Clinton for appointing very few Hispanics to key positions and for the 1996 welfare reform law which NCLR considered detrimental to the Hispanic community and resigned as chair of the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans in protest of political machinations. On November 30, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Yzaguirre to be U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. His appointment was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 29, 2010. He resigned his service in that post on May 29, 2013, and now resides in Mount Airy, Maryland. Council on Foreign Relations Yzaguirre is a lifetime member and serves on the Member Selection Committee of the David Rockefeller-headed Council on Foreign Relations. and was a member of the Independent Task Force on North America. Position at Arizona State University As part of Michael Crow's commitment to a "New American University" at Arizona State University, he appointed Yzaguirre to the position of presidential professor of practice in community development and civil rights at ASU. Awards and honors Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics, John F. Kennedy School of Government, one of the first Hispanic Fellows (1989) Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (1993) Order of the Aztec Eagle, the highest honor awarded by the Mexican government to citizens of another nation (1993) Namesake for the Raul Yzaguirre Schools for Success in Houston (1996) John W. Gardner Leadership Award, Independent Sector (2004) Smithsonian Latino Center Legacy Award (2007) The George Washington University Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award (2012) Duarte, Sanchez y Mella Medal of Merit, Dominican Republic Government (2013) Presidential Medal of Freedom (2022) Select publications Op-eds "What’s Wrong with the Immigration Bill?" op-ed, Washington Post, November 24, 1983. "Parting Shots on NAFTA," op-ed, Los Angeles Times, November 16, 1993. "California Cleansing," op-ed, Washington Post, May 18, 1994. Journal Articles "Ancianos Management Training," in Aging in America’s Neighborhoods, United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1975. "The Little Feet Took Giant Steps," Hispanic, 1988. "Hispanic Human Rights Goals for the 1990s," Journal of Intergroup Relations, Winter 1994. "Accurate Racial/Ethnic Data Should Drive Hispanic Category Review," Poverty & Race, January–February 1995. "The Fair