system chancellor on matters of community, national and global engagement. García has served on the boards of trustees for the Ford Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. García was inducted into the Texas Women's Hall of Fame in 2000. She was a 2007 recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Texas at Austin. She was named one of the ten top college presidents by Time in 2009. In 2014, she was named to Fortune magazine's World's 50 Greatest Leaders. She was the commencement speaker and an honorary degree recipient at Smith College in 2015. In 2022, García was announced as one of seventeen recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. References Living people People from Brownsville, Texas American academic administrators American academics of Mexican descent Women heads of universities and colleges Texas State University alumni University of Houston alumni University of Texas at Austin alumni University of Texas at Brownsville faculty Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Year of birth missing (living people)