Dean of the Harrison College of Business and Computing passes away

Dean of the Harrison College of Business and Computing, Dr. Alberto Dávila, just before the 2025 Spring semester.

Dávila began his time at SEMO in 2018, where, under his supervision at the Harrison College of Business and Computing 98% of graduates obtained employment or extended their education six months after graduation.

Before working at SEMO, Dávila Associate was dean of graduate studies, research, and administration at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley for three years and the chair of the Department of Economics and Finance at the University of Texas-Pan American for 19 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Additionally, Dávila co-founded the American Society for Hispanic Economists (ASHE), where he served as president, secretary, and treasurer. In 2021, he was awarded the ASHE Service Award for his contributions to the organization.

Committee on the Status of Minority Groups in the Economics Profession from the American Economics Association wrote that Dávila was a “social scientist at heart,” and he was drawn into economics because he wanted to fully understand “why people do what they do.”

The organization stated that as a child growing up in Texas and Mexico, Dávila was always around economics, he also found that everyone around him with a high-paying job had an economics degree.

SEMO President Carlos Vargas wrote in his email informing students of Dr. Dávila’s death that he was a valuable member of the SEMO community and a very respectable economist.